The red bandana he wore to keep the sweat out of his eyes during the 116th Boston Marathon on April 16 wasn’t enough. He needed hydration.

Joseph Haynes, ISU professor and chairman of veterinary pathology, grabbed a Gatorade from a table and then grabbed a water to wash it down. He then cut across the course, running through hordes of dehydrated runners in 80-degree weather to another table, where he grabbed a water to pour over himself.

“[The water stations] were chaotic getting in and out of — more so than I noticed in the past,” Haynes said.

Haynes has run 35 marathons, eight of them being the Boston Marathon.

During the race, Boston reached a sweltering 89 degrees, keeping the 21,606 runners who finished the race from achieving goal times.

The 59-year-old Haynes finished the 26.2-mile race in 3:04:20, placing him sixth out of 1,080 in the finishing male 55- to 59-year-old age division.

“That’s slow for me,” Haynes said.

In 2010, Haynes ran the Boston Marathon in 2:51:43.

The heat also impacted David Sevcik, senior in management, who finished the race in 3:26:57.

“It was hot and I had only been running for two weeks because of a stress fracture,” Sevcik said. “I was happy to finish, but I’m not too proud of my time.”

Before the race, Sevcik told himself not to start walking until the halfway point, but the heat was too much and he started walking at mile 10.

“I’ve never walked that early in a marathon before,” he said. “Usually it’s [mile] 20-something where I hit the wall and can’t keep going anymore.”

This was Sevcik’s second Boston Marathon.

Sevcik said when he finished the race, all he wanted was a beer. Samuel Adams was debuting its new “26.2 brew” at the Boston Marathon and Sevcik was desperate for a taste.

“I really wanted one, but I couldn’t find one, so I just sat down,” Sevcik said. “I never found any the whole trip.”

Sevcik said it took a lot of mental strength not to drop out of the race. He said lining the course there were Red Cross tents, and volunteers would drive runners back to the finish line at any moment.

For Sevcik twin brother, Daniel, senior in kinesiology and health, the Red Cross tents were even more tempting.

At mile 22, Daniel was sitting in a dropout station waiting to be shuttled back when an older man stumbled in off the course.

Daniel said they checked the man’s vital signs and they were bad — he had a very low pulse. The race volunteers asked the elderly man what he wanted to do.

“Well, I’m going to finish this one way or another,” the man said.

Daniel said the man then stumbled back onto the course.

The race volunteers then checked Daniel’s vitals and said they were perfectly fine. 

“I guess I’ve got to go,” Daniel said to himself. “I can’t be outdone by that.” 

Eventually Daniel finished the race. When he did, he thought “that was awful” and had no desire to look at his time.

Daniel admits the Boston Marathon is his favorite and least favorite marathon to run. 

He’s run the Boston Marathon twice and said he has never had a good race, but he said it’s still a cool experience. 

“The finish is really cool with everyone cheering you on,” Daniel said. “There’s thousands, thousands of people. The course is lined everywhere and it’s packed the whole way.”

During his first-ever Boston Marathon and fifth-ever marathon, Sam Bird, senior in global resource systems, felt the heat as well and had a slower time than he normally posts.

“It got up to 89 degrees, which after training all spring and winter in Iowa was way hotter than anything I’d run in,” Bird said.

Bird finished the race in 3:21:01.

“At one point, my whole leg just cramped up, but then at the final stretch up to the finish line, I pulled it together and ran that last bit,” Bird said.

His leg was still cramping when he finished, but he found a wheelchair to sit in just beyond the finish line.

“Someone wheeled me into the medical tent — it was air conditioned,” Bird said. “I was definitely happy to be done at that point.”

Bird said he thinks he is already qualified for next year’s Boston Marathon, but doubts he’ll run another marathon before trying to run it again next year.

“I’m going to try to register [for Boston] and if it doesn’t work out, then my legs will probably be happy I’m not going to run another marathon,” Bird said.

Haynes likes to run the Boston Marathon every other year since it can get expensive, which leads him to doubt he’ll be at the 117th Boston Marathon. But he’ll run other marathons throughout the year.

Haynes doesn’t know when he’ll stop running.

“There will be an end point. I don’t know when that is. I figure as long as I enjoy doing it and I enjoy training,” Haynes said. “Training can be difficult, but it’s rewarding.”

The Sevciks don’t know when they’ll stop running either, but both agree it depends on how long their knees hold up.

“I don’t see myself quitting,” David said.

Daniel said he just wants to remain active when he’s older.

David and Daniel have already qualified for next year’s Boston Marathon. Their little brother Joey, sophomore in kinesiology and health, also has qualified. He would have run this year’s Boston Marathon if he hadn’t been studying abroad in New Zealand.

David and Daniel, who are admittedly competitive with each other, don’t see their little brother as competition.

“We don’t lose to little brother,” Daniel said. “That’s rule No. 1.”