Marathon and they blamed the uncomfortably high temperatures -- 73 degrees at the close of the race -- for their disappointingly high times.

Ed Gomez, who was running in his ninth Boston Marathon, finished with the best time of the 12 local runners who started yesterday's marathon, finishing the gruelling 26-mile course in three hours, 21 minutes and 21 seconds. Lynn Kynoch, no stranger to the legendary race, was top local female at 3:23:18.

Kynoch was running in her eighth marathon.

"It felt more like May 24 than April 19,'' said Cal Steede, running in his first marathon and who completed the race in 3:31:44. "It was very hot. None of us expected it to be this sticky.'' Behind him was George Correia, who finished at 3:42:15. Brian Peck, meanwhile, ran the race in 4:02.

Steede had set a goal of finishing the race in three-and-a-half hours and came close to accomplishing that feat. Wearing a white T-shirt with the words `Bermuda' emblazoned across his chest, Steede credited fans along the route with giving him the drive to keep going, especially when he began to suffer leg cramps at the infamous Heartbreak Hill after 20 miles.

"When they saw my shirt they were yelling `Go Bermuda Go.' It was a real boost.'' Steede also credited exhaustive training sessions and the recent 10-mile Evian road race where he ran in 1:03:53 to prepare him for his first marathon.

Other local females were Moira Scupham (3:40), and Sandy Lund (3:48), who was in her first Boston race.

Maria Conroy Haydon, who leads all senior females after 10 races in the local KPMG Peat Marwick Series, was forced to drop out after 16 miles and Harry Patchett decided not to run after pulling a hamstring during training.

sessions.

Times for Debbie and Tom Thorsteinson and Ray Ming were unavailable.