Jenny Kincaid Boone

Jenny Kincaid Boone has been running since she was in eighth grade. She competed in cross country and track at Fort Defiance High School (Fort Defiance, Va.) and at Roanoke College, where she was all-ODAC in cross country for four years. When her knees and legs aren't aching from the wear of years of competition, she hits the 19 to low 20-minute range for a 5K.

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• A five-miler at the Lake
• Virtual running
• Giving triathlons a try
• Packing energy for the long haul

This Monday marks the running of the 110th Boston Marathon, considered one of the most prestigious marathons in the United States. It’s the only marathon, other than the Olympics, for which runners must qualify.

This year’s race is pretty much like other years except there’s a break from the traditional noon start at Hopkinton, which is just outside of Boston. This year, the start of the marathon will take place in a wave of two groups.

The elite male runners and others who cover 26.2 miles in less than 3 hours and 30 minutes will take off at noon. All others will start at 12:30 p.m. It’s an attempt to improve the convergence of 20,000 runners coming together at one time for the start of marathon feat.

There are a number of runners in the Roanoke and New River valleys who have run Boston several times and are gearing up for it again this year. Before they headed North, I caught up with some of them to talk about their experiences running the famed marathon.

Paul Higgins, Roanoke:

Roanoker Paul Higgins is hoping for a cool day on April 17. The temperatures rose to a hot 70 to 80 degrees the last two years that he’s run the Boston Marathon. Higgins, who’s completed nine marathons, said he runs more comfortably in 40 and 50-degree temperatures.

But last year, Heartbreak Hill, the famous mile-long hill looming near mile 20 in the marathon, was the reason that Higgins didn’t meet his goal of breaking 3 hours for the race. He finished the marathon in 3:01.

Heartbreak Hill “comes at a late time in the race,” he said. “You’re already at the wall.”

So, for his third Boston, Higgins, 40, is determined to run faster than 3 hours.

He also wants to make it back to Boston a fourth time.

Mark Young, Blue Ridge:

Running on the Blue Ridge Parkway is Mark Young’s ticket to handling the ups and downs of the Boston Marathon’s course. Young, of Blue Ridge, will run the legendary marathon route for the third time.

He’s been training with John Carlin, an anchor for WSLS television in Roanoke, and the two recently completed their longest run -- 21 miles on the parkway--before this year’s Boston.

“We do a great deal of our training on the Blue Ridge Parkway, where the hills are much tougher than Boston,” Young said. “We think that prepares us, and we’re lucky to live around here.”

Young has finished 11 marathons, but he calls Boston “the ultimate experience for a runner.”

“It was just amazing,” said Young, 54. “There are like three quarters of a million people watching, and the race is probably the best organized in the world.”

He said all runners should have a well-developed marathon training plan to follow if they’re considering qualifying for Boston, but once they’re there, enjoy the experience.

“It’s an event that absolutely takes your breath away,” Young said.

Julie Palmer, Blacksburg:

Julie Palmer will remember the third time she ran Boston because of a sweet greeting. At mile 24, she caught up with one of her good friends among the large crowd of runners, and they crossed the finish line together, holding hands and crying.

“I knew this would be the last year we would be running together,” Palmer said, who had just moved to Blacksburg from Missouri.

Palmer now is gearing up for her fifth time running the Boston Marathon this year. She ran 3:47 to qualify for this year’s marathon at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon last fall.

But when she gets to Boston, she said she’ll be satisfied if she finishes in four hours or less. Palmer, 40, said she’s not too worried about making it back to Boston next year. She’s already qualified for the ING New York City Marathon, which is coming up in November.

“The pressure’s off,” said Palmer, who also completes one or two Ironman competitions a year. Those involve swimming, biking and running a marathon distance, in some cases.

But some extra credit pressure is on for Palmer’s students at Radford University, where she is a professor. The students in her business classes will receive extra credit if they come within five minutes of predicting her Boston Marathon finishing time.

Here are other runners in the Roanoke and New River valleys who have entered the Boston Marathon, according to the marathon’s official web site:

Joe Dudak — Roanoke

James Schaaf — Roanoke

John Carlin — Roanoke

Lori Callahan — Salem

Sean Workowski — Fincastle

John Powell — Blacksburg

Donnie Tickle—Christiansburg

Andrew Warren — Blacksburg

Steven Nagle — Blacksburg

Hyun Ik Shin—Blacksburg

Shaleen Tethal — Blacksburg

Track a certain runner’s progress on marathon day by visiting:

http://216.235.245.61/2006/cf/RegAthleteAlert/pg_AthleteAlert2006.cfm?mode=entry&snap=39409777&

Upcoming local and regional races:

April 15: 5K Dash for the Cure 2006, Blacksburg, www.starcitystriders.com

April 23: Trail of Esperanza 5K and 1 mile walk, Blacksburg, http://www.projectesperanza.org.vt.edu/img/registrationform.pdf

April 29: Vinton Baptist Dogwood Classic, Vinton, 343-7685