Under overcast skies and mild temperatures, the second largest field in the Boston Marathon's history gathered in Hopkinton on Monday morning for the 112th running of the historic race. Some tried to quell their nerves by having a bite to eat and relaxing in the athlete's tent near the starting line in Hopkinton. Two dozen runners from Korea, however, danced to loud drum music in front of a church, their bodies wrapped in multicolor sashes. Sunny-Kim, a church elder, said the dance should help the runners, who traveled from Korea to run for charity, get hyped up for the 26.2 miles ahead of them.

Wendy Terris didn't need hyping: On Sunday, the 38-year-old marathoner from Milwaukie, Ore., finished the U.S. Olympic trials in 2 hours, 55 minutes, 28 seconds. She planned to run her second marathon in two days.

"I'm in town anyway, and I'd just rather run than watch," she said. "I'm a participant. I'm not very good at spectating."

Elite marathon runners usually compete twice a year, once in the fall season and once in the spring, but that's never been enough for Terris. She ran 17 marathons in 17 months in 2002-03 - including one streak of three in three weeks - while posting an average time of under 3 hours.

So running on back-to-back days didn't seem too daunting for her, although she did get a little harried finding the time to pick up both registration packets while attending the necessary meetings on Saturday.

Defending champion Robert Cheruiyot will try for his fourth Boston victory, an accomplishment that would put him alongside "Boston Billy" Rodgers and seven-time winner Clarence DeMar in the race's record books. Lidiya Grigoryeva, last year's women's winner, is also trying for a repeat.

"A marathon is the hardest thing in life," said Cheruiyot, who gave Kenya its 15th men's title in 17 years. "To win four times, you have to be a disciplined man. You have to know what you want in life."

The elite runners are racing for a purse worth $796,000, the richest of the World Marathon Majors events.

Winners of the men's and women's divisions will each receive guaranteed prize money of $150,000 - a record level in the majors, which include London, Chicago, Berlin and New York City.

Prize money is also given to winners in the masters and push-rim wheelchair divisions.

Before the race, Spyros Zagaris, mayor of Marathon, Greece, presented Hopkinton with a replica of a cup that was given to the winner of the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896. He vowed to build strong ties between his city and Hopkinton, both homes of the start of famous marathons.

Deena Kastor won Sunday's trials in 2:29:35 to earn a berth in the Beijing Games, and Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Blake Russell finished second and third to earn the other spots on the U.S. Olympic marathon team. They were invited to serve as grand marshals for Monday's race, but otherwise their work this weekend was over. Not so for the race officials and volunteers. The routine they follow was honed over the last 112 years, only to be upended when the Olympic trials were awarded to Boston.

Boston Athletic Association executive director Guy Morse said about 25,000 runners would try to make their way to Boston from Hopkinton on Monday, the largest field since 1996 for the 100th running of the world's oldest marathon.

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Associated Press reporter Mark Pratt in Hopkinton contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS UPDATES with scene from starting line; corrects purse; Will be led.)

Written By JIMMY GOLEN

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