First, Second and 675th For America

Though it is held on Patriots' Day, the Boston Marathon had been in danger of becoming downright unAmerican. Only one U.S. runner--Ambrose Burfoot in 1968--won the race between 1958 and 1972. In recent years, though, the American passion for jogging has aroused new interest and new hopes for a U.S. victory in the 26-mile 385-yd. race. That was evident when a record field of 1,398 turned out last week for the 77th running of the marathon. While the U.S. had such serious contenders as Olympian Jon Anderson and College Star Tom Fleming, most of the entrants were run-for-fun enthusiasts who pursue their lonely sport despite sneering remarks from passers-by and snarls from dogs snapping at their heels.

Typical of this relentless breed is Dave Sauer, 39, a refrigeration engineer from Pittsburgh. He began running four years ago to stay in shape, soon became hooked enough to enter local races. Just a year ago he started serious training for the Boston Marathon, dutifully logging ten miles each evening in a park near his home. After sending in his $2 entry fee, Sauer withdrew $300 from his "Boston Marathon fund" and flew east for a long, punishing weekend. "Runners like myself don't expect to win," he said prophetically. "We have the competitive urge, but we run against ourselves." His wife Pat, who has learned to spice her menus with such runner's staples as wheat germ and honey, had a different opinion. "You're crazy," she told Dave.

The milling throng that Sauer joined at the starting line in rural Hopkinton, Mass., was motley, to say the least. Along with serious competitors from a dozen countries, there were college kids out for a lark, aging jocks in flowered bathing suits competing on a dare, drinking companions who planned to pace themselves with stops at wayside taverns and--officially for only the second year--women of all ages. Alfred Ventrillo, a sightless, 65-year-old pensioner, was running "to inspire blind people." Author Erich Segal was toting a portable microphone to record his on-the-run comments for a TV show. Sauer danced nervously to loosen up his legs. Later he recalled thinking: "It's finally here. You've been waking up in the middle of the night wondering about it, and here it is such a beautiful day, the nicest atmosphere you can imagine."

When the starter's gun sounded at high noon, the runners crowded their way past the old Congregational Church, wound down a country lane, and then began to string out along Route 135. As the front runners passed through the outlying suburbs and headed toward Newton and its infamous Heartbreak Hill, a wickedly long climb six miles from the finish line in Boston, they were cheered on by more than 500,000 spectators lining the route. Children darted into the street offering slices of oranges and cups of Gatorade; one homeowner charitably placed his lawn sprinkler in the middle of the road to cool the runners as they panted by in the unseasonable 73DEG heat.

As expected, Finland's Olavi Suomalainen, the defending champion and this year's favorite, held a comfortable lead after 17 miles. Then he suffered a heat cramp and, gripping his side, he began to falter. Jon Anderson overtook Suomalainen on Heartbreak Hill and went on to win the laurel wreath with the winning time of 2 hr. 16 min. 3 sec. Tom Fleming, a senior at William Patterson College in Wayne, N.J., finished second, ahead of the ailing Finn. Afterward, Anderson, 23, a Cornell graduate and conscientious objector who is working as a hospital dishwasher in lieu of military service, clasped Fleming and exclaimed: "Hey, Tom! One-two for America! That's not bad!"

Meanwhile, back on the asphalt, Sauer was rhythmically striding along, passing runners on the final torturous upgrade and deciding that Heartbreak Hill was not so tough after all. Alas, a few miles from the finish, the heat and an ailing foot suddenly got to him and he remembers "an overwhelming urge to give up." But he kept going, thinking, he said later, "about the kids back home and how I couldn't let them down." Finally, he staggered across the finish line with a clocking of 3 hr. 27 min. that was good for 675th place.

Despite that showing, Sauer felt almost as elated as Anderson and Fleming. "When I wake up tomorrow," he said, "food will taste better and the air will smell fresher. That is what comes from running." Then, picking his way through runners lying prostrate on the locker-room floor and podiatrists busily lancing blisters, Dave Sauer wearily headed for home. "In this day of sports commercialism," he said, "it's refreshing to have a sport like running. There is a place in this country for people who enjoy hard work and a little pain."

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