It would be hard to spot the ISU professor in the crowd of nearly 15,000 runners in the Boston Marathon. But Joe Haynes, professor of veterinary pathology, was there in the top 2 percent of the crowd.

Haynes was 257th of 14,837 runners in the marathon with a time of two hours and 44 minutes. The marathon participant has a broad history of running that began while he was in high school. Haynes didn’t run as much during his college years, but began again afterward.

“Running breaks up my day and relieves some stress . it’s the best exercise you can do,” he said.

Haynes got his first taste of marathon running at the Twin Cities Marathon in 1991. He’s run in nine marathons since then and he admitted that Boston is his favorite.

“Boston is the most famous marathon and since you need to qualify to get in, you feel really good when you do. How they treat the runners is really neat,” Haynes said.

One of his favorite times, he said, is before the race even begins. The night before, the top four pasta recipes from a local competition are served to the runners.

“They’re really good and the atmosphere between the runners is great,” Haynes said.

This was Haynes’ second appearance at the Boston Marathon, as he placed 200th last year.

When training for marathons, Haynes bumps up his weekly 35 miles of running to nearly 65 miles.

“I do a combination of routines – long runs, short runs, speed work . I ramp up training mileage and intensity,” he said.

Mark Ackermann, associate professor of veterinary pathology, said he has been running with Haynes for six years.

Ackermann competes in more triathlons than marathons, but said he’s able to keep up with Haynes pretty well when they’re training.

“Joe is very dedicated and his times are great for his age group, or anyone,” Ackermann said.

Marathon runners can use microchips in their shoes to transmit final times across the Web. Ackermann received an e-mail notifying him of Hayne’s time early Monday afternoon.

“He’s out there running and looking good . he has a good pace,” Ackermann said.