Locals impress on marathon day

Regardless of the motivation or the finish, just about everyone who ran in the 112th Boston Marathon yesterday could agree on one thing: The conditions were perfect.And that’s a rarity.”It was just great,” said Swampscott’s Glenn Diamond, who ran one of his best times in recent memory (3:24.18). “Last year, it was pouring rain, and a couple of years before that it was in the 80s. It was perfect. It really was.”That seemed to be the prevailing sentiment. Still, within those parameters, there were triumph, heartbreak, and bittersweet feelings.”I finished in about five hours (5:09.06), and I’m both happy and not happy,” said Don Zollo, 32, of Saugus. “I was convinced I was going to do it in four hours, but then about a month ago I got sick. I hadn’t run in like 20-something days before (Monday).”Nine miles in, I got a cramp, and I never get cramps,” he said. “But I toughed it out. It was difficult, but I did it, and I’m proud of that. I was just happy to get through it.”Dawna Nocera, 49, of Nahant was really hoping to run the course in 4:05 so she could qualify for next year. Instead, she did a 4:06.50. She tried to maintain a pace of 9:20 miles, and thought she’d done that. If she had, she’d have come in with time to spare.But something went wrong, and she was very surprised – not to mention disappointed – when she saw her time flash on the screen above the finish line.”But,” she said, “it was still a good race. I did what I could. I finished, and it was a respectable time, so I am thankful for that.”And,” she said, “it was a beautiful day for running. It really was.”Neil Bernstein of Swampscott, 55, finished in 4:08.25, but would have perhaps done a bit better had he not had a replica of Pesky’s Pole – the right-field foul pole at Fenway Park – sitting atop his head.Actually, Pesky’s Pole was a going concern, as it kept slipping back on his head, which deprived race spectators from seeing it. Finally, he procured a safety pin and got it back to where it was supposed to be.Bernstein also said that the first 17 miles of the race were laborious.”But at mile 17, which is before the hills, I got this incredible second wind and I flew the rest of the way,” he said.Lynn firefighter Tim Lawrence finished in 4:26.04, but the time didn’t matter as much as the barrier he had to break through just to run the race.Lawrence had always wanted to run the marathon with his daughter, Kathleen, who died in 2003. Running Monday, Lawrence said, was a kind of closure for him.”It’s just something I had to do,” he said. “It’s a bittersweet feeling, and I’m glad it’s behind me.”He says this is his last Boston Marathon – but not necessarily his last marathon ever.”All in all, I feel terrific,” he said. “It was a beautiful day. It couldn’t have been nicer. Could I have done a faster time? Maybe. But at my age (51) I’m proud of where I finished. It’s pretty respectable, and I’m satisfied with that.”Mary Sullivan of Lynn, who ran stride for stride with Lawrence (as did firefighter Brendan Hamilton), was a newbie.Yes, she says, “I’m hooked. I will absolutely run it next year.”She said that she got a few side stitches, and perhaps drank too much water, “But everything else was fine.”Sullivan was one of many in the race who blasted music into her ears via an iPod, but there were times when even the iPod came in second to the crowd.”Sometimes, the crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear your music,” she said. “And at Wellesley College, you could hear them from a mile away. They were so loud you had to turn your music off.”She felt herself flagging at Cleveland Circle, and the stretch down Beacon Street heading into Boston was “not good,” she said.But then, “I saw the Citgo sign, and I knew I was almost there,” she said. “Even if you wanted to quit, you couldn’t because the crowds were so wonderful.”Marblehead’s Gary Freedman agreed about the crowds.”They just keep you going,” he said. “If you feel as if you want to stop, you can’t, because they won’t let you.”Free