114th Boston Marathon; Faces in the crowd.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: John Conceison

Dave Henschel

Paxton - No. 9476

One Boston restaurant for certain will be pushing together tables today to accommodate a party of 16.

And the family won't just be celebrating Dave Henschel's second Boston Marathon trek tomorrow. His twin brother Doug, a dentist from Reading, Pa., who has run more than 75 marathons and at least one in each state, will be setting out for what could be his last Boston, due to an arthritic hip.

Son Matt, his frequent partner at road races, won't be running, but Dave's sister, Holly Turner of Fleming Island, Fla., is entered, along with her daughter and son-in-law, talented thirtysomethings Laura and David O'Hara of Alexandria, Va.

Even Dave's wife Gynger and daughter, Kirsten Smith of Holden, have caught the running bug of late. "It's nice when it becomes a family thing," says Dave, whose father Frank is also on hand this weekend.

While remaining in fine shape since his soccer days at Allegheny College, Henschel, 59, only took up road racing about 2-1/2 years ago, a year after moving to Central Massachusetts from Central Pennsylvania.

He commits to 10 or so races a year, two marathons with most of the events half marathons. Still, he doesn't want to be labeled. "I characterize myself as not a runner - I run," says the soft-spoken lawyer.

And he does most of his running on his home treadmill. "You can vary your program," said Henschel, who will occasionally venture out for a group 20-miler. "By setting intervals and cycles on the treadmill, I feel I can fairly train for the marathon. You don't have the stress on...