THERE'S SOMETHING con- tagious about dreams and dares.

Just ask second-grade teacher Elizabeth O'Toole at Battlefield Elementary School in Spotsylvania County.

Though she doesn't have a background as a runner or even a regular jogger, she's signed on with several in the school's faculty to compete in the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of this month.

All because two teachers at the school ran one last year and dared/cajoled/inspired/invited several others to try the same this year.

For those who aren't up on their marathons, it's a running event that covers just over 26 miles through the streets of Washington.

Traveling that far without the benefit of an automobile, bicycle or moped, powered only by your own feet, is a considerable feat, one that requires months and, in some cases, years of training.

And while there's a great deal of attention on the runners on race day, the real work is the hundreds of miles of training competitors put in on favorite paths and roads to build up their endurance.

As O'Toole and the others on the team explain, training is a slow progression from shorter to longer distances on most days of the week.

For Barbara Baker, a third-grade teacher who for a dozen years or so was in the Marines, running has long been a part of her life.

She's run marathons before, including one last year with the school's phys-ed teacher, Melinda Madison, who has since moved away.

When other teachers at the school got interested in the race, Baker challenged them.

"Back in November of last year, some of us said we'd get a whole team together for this year's race," Baker said.

Peggy Mahoney, a counselor at the school, was one of those who got excited about the challenge.

Slowly, through the winter and into the spring, she began to put in miles each day, extending runs until she could put in 10 miles and more at a time.

Running that far for that long is not without its dangers, as Mahoney found out.