From a New York Times story by Talya Minsberg headlined “Golden Retrievers Gather to Salute the Therapy Dog of Mile 3”:

BOSTON — Less than 24 hours before 30,000 runners would board buses to the starting line of the Boston Marathon, a different type of excited energy pulsed through Boston Common.

Will, Sammy, Mandy, Cather, Lucy, Frank, Flynn and Lou were there. So were Kona, River, Miko, Clementine, Lily, Maple, Cedar and Chester.

They were not wearing high-tech sneakers or racing bibs. They had four legs each, were panting wildly and drooling just a bit.