Peter LaGoy is all smiles before starting Monday’s Boston Marathon. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Local runners who completed the 129th Boston Marathon credited the near-ideal weather and the always supportive crowd with providing a boost Monday.

Peter LaGoy ran his fourth Boston, finishing in 3 hours, 28 minutes 29 seconds. He noted that he ran a 1:43 first half and 1:45 second half, “which is pretty even for Boston.”

And while some would expect the Newton hills would make the second half of the race more challenging, LaGoy said that’s where being a Hopkinton resident helps.

“When you live in Hopkinton, you train on hills whether you want to or not,” he said with a laugh. “I actually felt stronger on uphills than downhills — my quads were trashed. If you’re going to run Boston, you really have to train for downhills.”

LaGoy, 65, is one of a handful of runners who are known to have completed a marathon in under three hours in six consecutive decades. His first marathon was in 1978 (in Maryland), and he reached the six-decade mark when he ran the Mesa Marathon in Arizona on Feb. 8, 2020, in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 33 seconds — just before the pandemic.

He said he is “still running a fair bit,” but this was only his second marathon since 2020. He qualified for Boston by running a marathon on Cape Cod back in October of 2023. He then took off most of 2024 “for various reasons,” then spent a few months building up to Monday’s race.

The crowd support was memorable for LaGoy.

“The crowds are always spectacular,” he said. “The Wellesley Scream Tunnel, going by [Boston College] and even some oddball areas where people are lining the streets. It’s great, uplifting — even if you can’t move to respond, it’s still uplifting.”

Resident Chris Stevenson finished in 4:01:30 and shared that the experience was “great.” “My goal was to finish strong and feel good throughout,” he emailed. “Boston is a beast!”

The weather — mainly in the 50s and partly cloudy with occasional wind — was a big plus for most runners and spectators. The crowds were “unbelievable as usual,” Stevenson wrote. “The weather had them out and going nuts.”

However, LaGoy noted that there were some headwinds as runners neared Boston, and while he welcomed the cooling breeze, it made it seem colder than it was. Added Stevenson: “It actually got chill heading towards the tail end of the race.”

The most memorable part of the race, Stevenson shared, was meeting a fellow runner who inspired him to get to the finish.

“Ran the last 2 miles with a new friend I will have for life,” he wrote. “We pushed each other ’til the end.”

Stevenson, who was running as a fundraiser for the Lake Maspenock Preservation Association, has run Boston five times now, and he hopes this won’t be his last.

“My wife will kill me — maybe not next year, but I’ll be back,” he wrote, adding: “Congrats to all runners, and thank you to the spectators and volunteers making it happen.”

Runners leaving the Athletes Village at Hopkinton Middle School walk down Grove Street to the Boston Marathon start line Monday morning. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

Julie Colantuoni finished her first marathon Monday, and it was an accomplishment she won’t soon forget.

“Running Boston felt like a dream,” she shared. “I’ve never felt so strong and then also so humbled by the difficulty that is the Boston course. I came very close to my 4:30 goal [finishing in 4:38:11] but wouldn’t have given up a single hug with my kids or high five to friends and kids along the course. I ran the first 20 miles with a running friend from the Hopkinton MRTT [Moms Run This Town] group. I’m so grateful to have been able to run that part with her.”

Colantuoni, who ran as a fundraiser for the Hopkinton Youth Field Hockey program struggled with the final few miles and channeled energy from all of those who supported her.

“I felt strong on the Newton hills, but my legs slowed me down in the miles that followed,” she recalled. “I suddenly developed severe knee pain around Mile 23 but pushed through. I had to dig really deep, and just put one foot in front of the other. And as Beacon approached Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, the crowds cheering carried me. Right on Hereford, left on Boylston. I knew then I would finish. The pain let up and I just took in every last moment before the finish line.

“The overwhelming support and cheering by family, friends and strangers throughout the course is what I will remember most. I can still hear the cheers, and I wish I could thank all the people that I’ve never met who helped me achieve this incredible goal.”