In April, the Boston Globe profiled one of the entrants in the prestigious Boston Marathon: Connie Chan, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and co-director of the Institute for Asian American Studies.

Chan--who appears on Nike billboards in Boston advertising the race--described her struggle to qualify for the marathon, which requires entrants to run a qualifying time at a certified marathon. She told the newspaper that she was awed by marathoners when she witnessed her first marathon as a graduate student at Boston University, and subsequently trained for 15 years before finally making the cut. Chan has run 29 marathons, including 12 in Boston.

--M. GREENGRASS