Several of those "bandits" recount tales of having to battle their way through the crowd of nearly 18,000 runners for at least 15 minutes before even reaching the starting point.

"For the first half a mile, were just walking, trying hard to be able to move at all," said Katharine M. Holt '02, who finished the race in about four hours and 15 minutes.

"I'm sure we ran more than 26.2 miles, we just had to keep weaving in and out at first," said Matthew Milikowsky '02, a member of the varsity crew team.

Milikowsky said he and a group of his friends decided to run only a few weeks ago and trained for only a week and a half.

Despite his brief training regimen and 15-minute wait behind the starting line, Milikowsky said he completed the race with a time of only 3:37.

He said he would not have been able to make it to the finish line without the hoards of screaming fans on the sidelines.

He said he and his friends particularly enjoyed the outpouring of support they received as they neared Wellesley College, which marks the halfway point of the race.