Pushing through the heat that felled many top seeds, Timothy C. Harte '90, a resident tutor in Kirkland House, dramatically improved both his time and place in yesterday's 103rd Boston Marathon.

Harte was the 35th man to cross the finish line, the 38th finisher overall, after coming in 51st in last year's event. His time of 2:27.32 was three minutes faster than his time from last year and two minutes faster than his previous best, from this year's New York Marathon.

Harte's achievements are even more notable given the heat and direct sunlight that bombarded the runners throughout much of the course.

"I was shooting for 2:26, but on a really hot day 2:27 is more than I could have hoped for," Harte said.

Harte said the last four miles of the race were particularly trying for everyone. While many runners--including last year's winner Moses Tanui of Kenya, and four-time champion Bill Rodgers of Massachusetts--succumbed, Harte pushed through the pain in pursuit of a personal record.

"I knew I was passing people and I wanted to get as good a time as I can," he said. "It was just tolerating the pain and getting to the end."

Of his six marathons, Harte said he felt the worst at the end of this race, his fourth consecutive time running the Boston Marathon.

"I crossed the line and almost blacked out for a couple of seconds before they caught me," Harte said.

Harte said the thought of "seeing my wife at the finish line" provided the extra boost to help him through the pain, exhaustion and nausea to finish strong.