When his lung collapsed, Mark Lee, an Iowa State senior in agricultural business, was told by his doctors he may never run again. They were wrong.

Not only is he running, Lee has qualified for the 1996 Boston Marathon April 15.

The marathon is particularly important because it is the 100th anniversary of the event. The Boston Athletic Association expects to triple last year’s participation.

“It’s the biggest running day in history, and it’s Veishea week,” said Lee, an Inwood, Iowa, native.

That’s the problem. Lee is one of the Veishea general co-chairs. It’s going to be a hectic week, he said.

As a senior at West Lyon High School in Inwood, Iowa, Lee was a four-time state track qualifier, three-time most valuable runner and captain of both his high school’s track and cross country teams. Running was a major part of his life.

Then, while still in high school, his lung collapsed. After carrying an oxygen tank around for several weeks, Lee’s lung filled back up with air.

Lee was a member of the Iowa State track team for 1 1/2 years, but quit the team when his lung condition relapsed.

So instead of regular competition, Lee now runs more for pleasure.

“I have a seven-day program,” Lee said. He runs for two to three hours one day a week and about one hour two days a week. He also does a speed workout, runs hills and bikes.

Lee takes one day a week off because, “If you push yourself too hard, you get injured.”

With the pressures of school and Veishea, which can be a full-time job, taking time out to run is sometimes difficult for Lee, but the looming marathon has helped keep him motivated.

“Once I get out there [to Boston], I love it,” he said.

Lee grew up running on rural Iowa’s gravel roads. Now he runs all over the city of Ames, usually in the late afternoon or evening. Occasionally, Lee will drive to a park to run. “I hate training inside. It’s just circle after circle.”

If he can’t get outside or to the campus rec center, he works out on his NordicTrak at home. “Once I got a taste of success, it was a lot of fun.”

The first marathon Lee participated in was Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., during the summer of 1994. “My goal was just to finish, but once I got in the race, I wanted to finish without walking,” Lee said.

He did.

Lee returned to Duluth this summer to run the same marathon, this time with higher expectations.

He woke at 5 a.m. the morning of the race and ate half a bagel before, as he does before each competition. When the race started it was 85 degrees, but temperatures soared throughout the day. Ambulances marked the last 12 miles, Lee said.

There were about 6,500 people registered in race. Only about 5,300 finished.

By mile 22 Lee’s goal was to finish without blacking out, he said. “I passed a guy in a wheelchair with one arm who had been pushing himself for 25 miles. That made me suck it up and realize I wasn’t that bad off.”

Lee eventually finished in 3 hours and 4 minutes, bettering the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon by six minutes.

Lee said his goals for the Boston Marathon are different. He said with 20,000 competitors, the odds that he’ll be one of the first to finish are slim.

The Boston Athletic Association advises: “Do not expect to run a personal best time. Come to Boston in 1996 to celebrate the 100th Boston Marathon and be part of the excitement of the historic event.”

Lee can agree to that. “It may take five minutes before I reach the starting line. I am running it to have a good time.”