CHINA — When Jeff Ross ran his first marathon two years ago in southern Maine, he said what most do after completing the grueling 26.2 miles.

“I had said I’d never run another one,” the China resident said with a laugh.

Ross, who teaches phys ed at Medomak Valley High School and coaches boys ice hockey at Gardiner, is not the type to turn down an opportunity to test himself, though. On Monday, Ross will be one of the more than 30,000 people to compete in the 119th Boston Marathon and the day cannot come soon enough for the 40-year old.

“I’ve done a ton of training. I’m really excited,” Ross said. “I get goosebumps every time I think about the opportunity.

“…I like to challenge myself. I turned 40 this year so we’ll see how the old body hangs on there.”

The competition is part of what drew Ross to the event but it’s not the only reason. He said he initially got into running to get in better shape and be a better father to his two children, and both impetuses remain in his mind as he prepares for Monday.

“The Marathon, it’s something I do for me,” Ross said. “I do it as a role model for my kids.”

Ross, who will wear bib No. 27,178, is also running for a good cause. He secured his spot in the marathon thanks to the help of a former student and will be racing for the Red Sox Foundation. As of Friday evening he had already raised $3,075 of his $5,000 goal.

“It’s really exciting to be a part of something so special,” Ross said.

He also noted that the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon and the subsequent way the city responded served as motivation as well.

“We were walking down and saw the finish line to the marathon. It was kind of touching and kind of hit you a bit,” Ross said, recounting a trip to Boston last year. “That was a big part of it. To see everything that Boston went through and how they united. It’s special to be a part of it, that’s for sure.”

Sarah Walker, a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who will run her first Boston Marathon on Monday, has seen firsthand how the city has rallied in the aftermath of the bombings. A sophomore at the time, Walker remembers vividly how she felt in the moments after the bombs went off and MIT police officer Sean Collier was killed outside a building she walks by “all the time.”

“I had been running (in the area) when the bombings went off. I saw all these people leaving and it was a mass exodus,” Walker said. “I think it was a minute or two later and I was in my room.

“(Later) I was looking out the window and every single police car was going from Boston and Cambridge to Watertown. It was so scary. You’re sitting in your room and you have no control of what’s going on. I just felt, like, numb almost.”

Walker, who got into running after joining the indoor track team when she was attending Waterville Senior High School, said she wished she had run in the event last year, but is both excited and nervous to compete Monday.

“I’m graduating this spring,” she said, “and one of my last big things as a student is to run in the Boston Marathon.”

Sidney native David Currier, who ran cross country and track at Messalonskee and the University of Maine, signed up to compete in this year’s Marathon, yet had to back out due to obligations at work. He is in his first year as a history teacher at Erskine Academy and also coaches outdoor track.

“Yeah, the whole first-year teaching thing, it’s as hard as they say,” Currier said. “I did last year’s and that was good. I had full intention of going back, I enjoyed it.”

The Boston Marathon will begin Monday at 8:50 a.m. with the first group, those that are mobility impaired, on Main Street in Hopkinton. The final group of runners will depart at 11:15 a.m., with the finish line on Boylston Street in front of the Boston Public Library.

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

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TWitter: @Evan_Crawley