By Marvin Pave, Globe Staff, 4/16/2002

Last Friday's Globe profiled six ''Faces in the Pack,'' participants in the 106th Boston Marathon, each striving for personal goals. Nearly all their goals were met yesterday.

Cathi Campbell: `Very pleased'

Attorney Cathi Campbell, 34, of Allston, qualified for the 2004 Olympic Trials in St. Louis by beating the standard of 2 hours 48 minutes by almost two minutes.

''I'm very pleased and the crowds were sensational,'' said Campbell, a former track and cross-country captain at Boston Latin School, whose father and grandfather were both hockey players at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. ''I was just kind of striding along because there was a little headwind, but I had a pretty good feeling that I could come in under 2:48.''

Brian Herr kept up his Marathon Day tradition by running with friend Bill Neville, of Londonderry, N.H., on behalf of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. The pair have been doing this since the program's inception 13 years ago.

''I had hoped to run in about four hours and it was 4:08, so I was very satisfied,'' said Herr, 39, a Hopkinton resident and construction marketing manager for WESCO Distribution in Westwood. ''I'll also reach my goal of raising $5,000 and even though I was sore and tired, I was inspired by the memory of my dad, Denis, who passed away last month from cancer.''

But nothing could quite top Herr's courageous Boston Marathon performance of a decade ago, when he completed the 26.2 miles just weeks after crushing his rib cage and collapsing a lung in a skiing accident.

Sarah Nixon, who works in the Wellesley Booksmith children's section, met her goal of finishing in 2:55 or better, clocking a personal best of 2:53:38. Nixon, 37, who raised about $9,000 for the Dana-Farber Challenge, said she was pleased the weather stayed cool, but added that the last mile was ''really tough'' because her legs tightened up.

''It's been a great day,'' said Medfield's Nixon, a member of the Merrimack Valley Striders who plans to run the Stockholm Marathon in June as part of that city's 750th anniversary. ''I got a hug from Uta Pippig at the finish line today and I'll be partying with the Dana-Farber people at the International Pub tonight.''

Milford's Elizabeth Morin, 47, who works in the Graduate and Continuing Education Department at Framingham State College, was running her first Boston after qualifying at the Bay State Marathon last fall.

''It was everything I had hoped for,'' said Morin, who felt four hours would be a reasonable goal and was clocked in 3:56:43. ''It was a pretty smooth run, the volunteers were superb, and I had a chance to see a lot of family and friends along the way.''

Thomas O'Hearn, 70, wasn't as fortunate. A few days before yesterday's race, the Natick resident was stricken with a minor infection and hadn't recovered sufficiently to run.

''It's disappointing after all the training, but I hope to run Boston next year,'' said O'Hearn, a retiree who was employed by Dennison Manufacturing Co.

''I still got out on the course today to root for my daughter, Jane Lundy, from Katonah, N.Y., and she finished with a personal-best 3:11. Not bad for a 42-year-old mom with two kids,'' said a proud O'Hearn, who greeted Lundy with his grandson, Conor, by his side.

Harvard University Fulbright scholar William Tan, 46, of Singapore, a member of the Kids at Heart Marathon team representing Children's Hospital Boston, competed in his first Boston Marathon in the wheelchair division.

Tan, who has participated on behalf of many charitable causes in the past, was hoping to break his personal best of 1:53 and finished in 2:13:02, which qualifies him for next year's race.

''I was able to see my patient partner, Jessica Doktor, with her family at the finish line with a big banner, and it was very touching,'' he said. ''Every hill seemed like Heartbreak Hill for me because of the headwind, but Jessica inspired me even though my arms were like jelly.''

Tan, who lives in Boston and plans to focus on cancer prevention research after graduation in June, said the crowd support along the way ''helped me to push on. They were phenomenal. I hope to return next year.''

This story ran on page D9 of the Boston Globe on 4/16/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.