Running in a hot marathon requires a change in strategy, and many Boston Marathon runners did an about-face. Runners who had hoped to beat a previous time record held back this time. Others walked a portion of the 26.2-mile distance. And everyone took extra steps to try to stay cool. The marathon on Monday was run in full sun and temperatures that reached 87 degrees. Kim Austin, a first-time marathoner, hates to wear hats but bought a lightweight running cap for the marathon. She slowed her pace and decided to enjoy the race rather than try for a finish time. In the end, she finished a few …

One of the hottest Boston Marathon races is a memory now for many local runners. The race broke records for heat: a recorded 87 degrees at the finish in Boston. And many runners succombed to the heat. At least 50 people participating in the race were taken to hospitals, according to the Boston Globe. As the marathon began, in Hopkinton, runners were encouraged to walk if they needed to, and to stay hydrated. Here are the completion times and last known results for some of Milford's athletes participating in the marathon, based on information provided by the Boston Athletic Association: John …

No one wants to run a marathon in excessive heat, including athletes who have trained for months. But most runners also are reluctant to skip a marathon that they've trained for, and want to complete as a personal achievement. The Boston Athletic Association has told runners it will allow them to defer their participation in the 116th Boston Marathon until next year, given the forecast of temperatures approaching 90 degrees Monday. It wasn't clear Sunday how many runners were opting to do that. The race begins at 9 a.m., with the wheelchair competition, with waves of runners to follow. The …

John Dumont had a relatively late start in running. At 40, he took his first three-mile run, inspired after seeing someone running along the roadside one day while driving home. His first run, around Hopedale Pond, was a disastrous introduction to the sport. He injured his foot in those new running shoes, and had to recover. A few years later, the first time fellow firefighters suggested he should train for a marathon, he laughed it off. "Are you kidding?" he remembers telling Scott Keefe and Mike DeTore. "I hadn't run any more than five miles. It was absurd." But he went to watch the race …

Ken Poole knows a few things about keeping an aging body limber enough to remain competitive for 26.2 miles. At 71, he is the oldest of the entrants from Milford in the upcoming Boston Marathon. But he's not the slowest. He's running faster now than he did in his 60s. And he has the experience of a veteran runner who knows how to handle Boston, what he calls "the cruelest marathon." Last year, he was passed at the beginning of Heartbreak Hill by a young woman in a running skirt, who had pinned a sign to her rump: "You've just been passed by a skirt." As he passed her midway up the famous …

Coleen Greco has built her endurance this year from a few miles to double-digits, in training for the Boston Marathon, and along the way, gained perspective on running. The training is important, but it doesn't consume her thoughts that day, the way it used to. Instead, Greco, who is running to raise funds for cancer research and treatment in a team organized through Dana Farber Cancer Institute, thinks about the effort made each day by cancer patients. Last year, she lost her mother, Betty, to cancer just 39 days following the diagnosis. Each mile in the April 16 marathon is dedicated to …

Rebecca Blaine has qualified twice for Boston. At the age of 26, this means she had to run a marathon in 3:40:00 or less. She did it twice last year, the first time qualifying with less than 3 minutes to spare. Unlike many runners, she didn't enter the marathons hoping to get a Boston qualifying time. It just turned out that way. Blaine, a nurse-practitioner, works at Caring for Women in Milford, and lives in Westborough. Sometimes, she said this week, it still seem surreal that she's preparing for the Boston Marathon, the most prestigious marathon for runners. "I've watched the Boston …

Moving up from 3.1 miles to 26.2 miles would seem like a daunting task. But it's easier when you have a partner, as David Morganelli and Whitney Mullen have learned this year. Morganelli, 44, of Milford, and Mullen, 22, his niece, have been running together on weekends as they prepare for their first Boston Marathon. Both Morganelli and Mullen are raising funds for the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, and running in memory of family members. Morganelli is dedicating his race to his late father, Peter J. Morganelli, a  pediatrician and lifelong Milford resident. Mullen is running in…

With his first marathon behind him, Mike Nixon took an eight-week break before starting the training for his second: the upcoming Boston Marathon. Nixon, 32, a Milford resident for almost six years, is more confident heading into this race because of his experience at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington. He finished that marathon, a traditional favorite among first-time marathoners, in a little over 5 hours. He's hoping for a finish of about 4.5 hours in Boston. "I'm pretty confident," he said. "I've learned from the first marathon." What has he learned? The weekly long run is important, …

Kim Austin is an athlete who has run the traditional preparation for a first marathon: a series of half-marathons. This year, she's tackling the most storied marathon of them all: the 116th Boston Marathon. Last year, at 38, at her friend's urging, she agreed to join a group training for the 2012 Boston Marathon, as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's TEAM in Training. Her friend is the coach of the team. For years, her friend had encouraged her to join. Initially, the idea of a 26.1-mile distance didn't seem like a good idea. "That's a long way to go," Austin said. Eventually, the …