Welcome to the 2008 version of "Everything You Wanted to Know about Every Area Runner in Monday's Boston Marathon and Were Afraid to Ask" column.

Once again, every local runner who will be running Boston on Monday gets an acknowledgment here.

There will be 124 area runners entered in Monday's marathon, as compared to last year's 110 and 2006's 104 runners; the average age of this group is 41.8 and the field consists of 72 men and 52 women; only 35 runners were qualifiers; the oldest local runners are 68-year-olds Ron Robitaille of Norton and Bill Markey of Norfolk; the youngest is Mansfield's Chris Kennedy (20).

This year's runners have run a combined total of 302 prior Boston Marathons. The runner with the distinction of having run the most Bostons of local runners is Mansfield's Kham Haledeuth with 22. North Attleboro's Dave Santoro is next at 18, others with at least seven Boston finishes are Rehoboth's Victor Pereira (18), Mansfield's Don Burke (11), Jan Kallio (11), Kevin Fitzgibbon (8) and Gary Aarons (7), Attleboro's Dan Richard (11), Harry Pino (8) and Kim Forget (7), Wrentham's Tom Sullivan (12), Paul Powell (12), Roland Desrochers (11) and Bob O'Connell (8), Norton's Denise Donovan (9), Ron (8) and Monique (7) Robitaille and Norfolk's John Curran (8).

Of the qualifiers, Norfolk's Curran, Norton's Chris Cappellini and Matt Ditrolio and Wrentham's Linda Liljeberg, did so at a previous Boston Marathon. Many runners qualified at out-of-state marathons. North Attleboro's Sandy Sheehy did it in Cleveland, Chicago was a popular site with Wrentham's Desrochers, Attleboro's Richard, North Attleboro's Santoro and Norton's Monique and Ron Robitaille qualifying in the midwest.

Mansfield's Tom Rooney got it done in Tampa. Philadelphia proved to be the destination of choice for Attleboro's Pino, Mansfield's Fitzgibbon and Norfolk's Ken Beaulieu. Mansfield's Haledeuth and Shauna Fuerst got their ticket punched at Sugarloaf. North Attleboro's Kim Ashworth and Shana Vesona earned their stripes at Marine Corps. Others include Norfolk's Kim Porell at Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix; Mansfield's Burke at Disney; Plainville's Lauren Farkash and Mansfield's Jean Miller at Breakers; Norton's John Winters and North Attleboro's Christine Bradley at Manchester; Seekonk's Paula Deblois and Mansfield's Mike Ferrari at Portland; Several stayed in state to qualify such as Plainville's Ron Farkash, Seekonk's Pat LaChance and Attleboro's Kim Forget at Bay State; Wrentham's Amanda Ghostlaw at Hyannis.

The tough Cape Cod Marathon produced four qualifiers: Foxboro's Robert McCormack, Mansfield's Kevin McCormick and Dave Fernandez and Plainville's Doug Strott.

The top local male finisher figures to be Norton's Matt Ditrolio, who expects to be under three hours, or Plainville's Ron Farkash. The top woman runner could be North Attleboro's Sandy Sheehy with both Wrentham's Amanda Ghostlaw and North Attleboro's Shana Vesona as potential contenders.

As in past years, there will be many (38) in the marathon running to raise funds for a charity. A cast of eight local runners into the fray on Monday running for Dana-Farber; those runners are North Attleboro's Kaitlin Hoffmann, Mark Maguire and Lori Suher, Mansfield's Deana DeSilva, Ann Bender, Walter Rich and Bill Chancey and Norfolk's Jane Sylvestre. Mansfield's Terri Banks will be running for Tedy's Team/American Stroke; Plainville's Nick Giordano will be running for American Liver; Horizons for Homeless Children will have North Attleboro's Sean Lopolito on the course.

Other charity runners include Mansfield's Nisha Sardella (Rodman Ride for Kids), Norton's Margo Antonellis (Cystic Fibrosis), Norfolk's Michael Treeful (Casa Myrna Vasquez), Mansfield's Chris Kennedy and Nancy Marin and Attleboro's Caren Francione (Michael Carter Linslow Research Center), North Attleboro's Joe Coughlin (Arthritis Foundation), Wrentham's Nicole Dreyer and Amy Mazurski, Foxboro's Tom Lowe, Rehoboth's Pereira and Mansfield's Michael Smith (Leukemia), Mansfield's Marc Turgeon (Friends of LADDERS), Foxboro's Wendy Nelson and Paula Kelly (Progeria Research Foundation), Foxboro's Terri Rizzo (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), Foxboro's Christina Matthews (Mass General Hospital Children's Cancer).

Also Plainville's Anne Milito (Christmas in the City), Wrentham's Dwight Porter (Brenden's Buddies), North Attleboro's Joseph Van Allen and Foxboro's Bill Segal (New England Patriots Charitable Foundation), North Attleboro's Jesse Austin (Brookline Community Mental Health Center), Mansfield's Laura Kablik (ReadBoston), Rehoboth's Scott Santos (Brigham & Women's), North Attleboro's Debra Hanewich (Mass General Hospital Stroke Research), Plainville's Larry Taylor (Families First), Foxboro's James McKinney (Alley Foundation).

A cast of 17 got their Boston entry through a local running club.

North Attleboro's Peter Cobb, Sharon Cooper, Kim Averill, Kristen Taggart, Roger Stebenne and Paul Servais, Norton's Dan Pitts, Foxboro's Heidi Krockta, Mansfield's Erin Shaw and Barbara Mahoney were Wampanoag Road Runner lottery winners, Rehoboth's Pete Withers gained his entry via the Ocaen State Athletic Club; Others include Attleboro's Norm Robbie (GBTC), Wrentham's Alan Cron, Mansfield's Bill Shaw and Kevin Donnelly, Attleboro's Nancy Brodeur and Michelle Bray (B.A.A).

Fifty two runners will be out there on the Boston course for the first time, including Mansfield's Kim Giannouloudis and Rose Sariol, North Attleboro's Samantha Stuart and Greg Kayata, Mansfield's John Meewes, Foxboro's Kelly Lovely and Wrentham's Michael Cullinane. Who's left? North Attleboro's Joe Coughlin, Mansfield's Tom Kallio and Greg Ilson, Attleboro's Jeff Russell and Marcus Evans, Foxboro's Mark Tully, Peter Vacheron and Diana Thompson, James Fraser, Rich Leslie, Wrentham's Jeff Smith, Norfolk's Shelly Chisholm and Jennifer Ryan have all run a previous Boston, are not qualifiers and are not running for a charity.

How about Attleboro's Steve Kelleher and Foxboro's Michael Dunn? They're not talking - at least to me.

Finally, Norton native Wanda Armstrong will be jetting in from Switzerland where she now lives, to run her first Boston.

ROB ROSE is a running columnist for The Sun Chronicle and can be reached via e-mail at LSXPLRER@comcast.net