RUNNINGCOLUMN,ROBROSE

For some people, it's never too early to be thinking about the

Boston Marathon. Registration for the April 16 classic opened on

the B.A.A. website in mid October and just as Christmas shoppers

are perched in front of Wal-Mart at 2 a.m. on Black Friday,

there are those who can't wait to get into Boston. So who

registers six months in advance?

In mid November, there were only six local runners on the

Boston Marathon website's entrants list. That will eventually

swell to over 100 by early April when the last laggards get

aboard. Four of the six are wizened veterans with many Boston

finishes on their resume. It's the other two names that are the

most intriguing. Two names that are not familiar to the local

running cognoscenti. Two names that are apparently newly minted

Boston qualifiers. From their quick application submission, a

runner's instinct can discern several things ... their anxiety

of getting into a restricted field, the exhilaration of running

Boston for the first time, pride in their recent accomplishment.

Two names, Linda Liljeberg and Christopher Cappellini. Unknown

to each other, their paths crossed at the Bay State Marathon

where they earned their wings that day by qualifying for Boston.

Identical results, different paths.

Linda Liljeberg has been a runner since her scholastic days in

Woonsocket. However, the Wrentham resident is not known on the

local running radar as she did her training at lunch with

co-workers in Burlington and especially because she's a mom. "I

have three kids who are very active so my weekends are usually

spent at one of their hockey/basketball/football/dance

practice/games which makes running races difficult," she said.

"Working and having three young children meant limited time for

training." The time constraints eased somewhat and an old

ambition suddenly came to the fore. "I've always wanted to do a

marathon and was well on my way in 1997 when I found out that I

was pregnant," she said. "I was finally at a point where my kids

were old enough and I figured it was now or never."

Now or never became October's Bay State Marathon, which she

chose because of its flat/fast reputation. Her only objective

was to finish but "about four weeks before the race I was

feeling good about my running. About two weeks before the race I

learned that my qualifying time for Boston was 4:00, so now I

thought I actually stood a chance."

"The race went extremely well and the conditions were

perfect," she said of her resounding 3:41 day ."I knew at the

finish line that I qualified and I was overjoyed. My husband was

waiting for me and I broke down and cried out of happiness."

Cappellini came to his appointment with the Boston Marathon by

a more indirect route. The Norton resident started competing in

short distance duathlons in 2004 after being athletically

dormant for several years. A friend suggested running the Boston

Run To Remember Half Marathon in March, a significant step up in

distance which he made seamlessly. It unleashed greater

aspirations. "I did well, 1:33:22 and thought that qualifying

for Boston would be possible," he said. "I also thought running

Boston for charity on behalf of my father who had a stroke in

March 2005 would be rewarding."

Cappellini was still in triathlon mode as late as August, when

he completed the Timberman Half Ironman in New Hampshire. "After

the HIM, I stopped all swimming and biking and focused on

running," he said. "I added a Saturday interval session and

increased my weekly mileage to 35-38 per week." His first

marathon proved to be a success, a 3:17, but also an ordeal due

to inexperience and limited road time. "I knew I needed 3:20 to

qualify," he said of his goal for the Bay State Marathon. "I

went out way too fast. Through 19 miles my worst split was 7:49

and then my legs started to fail. Both hamstrings tightened and

cramped. In retrospect, I did not hydrate properly during the

race. I was happy as I achieved my pre-race goal but equally

disappointed that my legs had failed me and the final 6.2 miles

were a struggle."

Cappellini had signed up to for the Cape Cod Marathon before

he realized that Bay State Marathon was the easier course to

qualify. Not wanting to see a registration fee forfeited, he

completed Cape Cod two weeks later in 3:33.

Both runners were motivated to get their entries into the

B.A.A. immediately after Bay State because they were concerned

that the field would be filled if they didn't act promptly. But

a runners' instinct interprets their October registration as a

statement, saying, "I did it! I'm a Boston Qualifier." Now for

the next six months, it will be out there for the rest of the

world to see.

Footnotes - the Colonial Road Runners have begun their winter

race series on Sundays at 1 p.m. in North Abington; the runners

meet at the Depot restaurant on Railroad St. for a four mile

run; the series continues until Feb. 4 and there is a two dollar

fee but no prizes or T-shirts; check out www.colonialrunners.org

for more info ...Congrats to Mansfield's Kevin Fitzgibbon who

qualified for Boston at last week's Philadelphia Marathon; after

13 previous marathons, he finally made it to the promised land

with a 3:32 ... the popular Covered Bridge Half Marathon will

open up registration for the June 3 race on its website,

www.cbhm.com on Dec. 11 at 9.a.m; last year, the Quechee, Vt.

race filled out its 2300 runner field in only 10 hours ...

Wrentham's Don Jackson, who found hundreds of dollars and credit

cards belonging to Patriot Tom Brady last year, hasn't lost the

touch; last Sunday while running on Rte. 106 in Plainville, he

came up with a fine looking Seiko men's watch laying in the road

...