As young kids, they always shared a room, turning bedtime into a free-for-all every night, clowning like the Three Stooges on a good day.

In high school, they were known not as Paul, Stephen and Jim Gidus, but instead as Big, Medium and Little Gidus -- the Three Musketeers of Ashtabula (Ohio) County.

As adults, they migrated to Central Florida, one after another, eventually building a home together in Chuluota, where they were roommates again for a year.

And even now, after spreading their wings, taking wives and making separate lives and families, they still live only 10 minutes apart, seeing one another at church every Sunday. It's only fitting that on Monday they will attempt to make history as a group. Paul, Stephen and Jim Gidus will start -- and hopefully finish -- the 26-mile, 385-yard Boston Marathon together, becoming the first brother trio in the storied event's history. "We've done a lot of things together through the years, but never anything like this," said Stephen. "This is a little tougher than just building a go-kart together."

Although Jim, 39, is considerably faster than Stephen, 40, or Paul, 42, they plan to run three abreast, from their pre-race prayer to a finish line they hope to cross about 3 hours, 15 minutes after they start. Approximately 20,000 runners from 54 countries have entered in the 107th running of the world's most prestigious marathon, all meeting the strict qualifying standards that keep the field from doubling or tripling in size.

Although both Jim and Stephen qualified last October in the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon, Paul ran poorly (3:33) there and missed the 3:20 he needed to qualify for Boston because of a late-race hamstring pull.

In January, though, he ran 3:18 in Houston, helped by Jim, who unofficially jumped into the race to pace him through the second half. With the deadline for qualifying less than a month away, it turned into a last-chance event.

Although all three ran cross country in high school and again at Kent State Ashtabula , almost 20 years will have elapsed between then and their run at history in Boston.

For a long time, each was more interested in starting a business and a family than sacrificing the time and effort needed for serious training. Paul and Stephen started a construction company; Jim started a family.

"I don't know why it took us this long, but 15 years ago, we weren't able to do it for a lot of reasons, probably didn't care to do it. Maybe it's a middle-age thing," Paul said. "But we're having a lot of fun with it now. If we stay healthy, we'd like to do this more than once."

It wasn't until Stephen ran his first marathon [Disney World] in 2001 that Paul again caught the running bug. Paul didn't run his first marathon until a year later. Then Jim, who was busy with martial arts, triathlons and swimming, decided he would make it a family affair.

Although Jim still mostly trains alone, Paul and Stephen have been training with the Track Shack Marathon Fest, a Central Florida training group. Jon Hughes, Track Shack's owner, sparked their interest in running marathons after a business meeting in Winter Park.

Boston Marathon officials have taken notice of what the three brothers are about to do. They gave the Gidus brothers VIP status, which means they'll have some privileges most entrants won't enjoy.

"It's not like they were these huge stars when they were young, but now 20 years later, they are about to do something pretty phenomenal," Hughes said. "I think people will notice."

An estimated 75 runners from the Central Florida area expect to start the Boston Marathon. The ages range from older runners such as Joseph Musca, 74, to younger ones, such as Cesar Estrada, 26, both from Orlando. The kind of person running varies as well. Both David Smith, a doctor from Winter Park, and Pat Williams, the Orlando Magic executive, have entered.

None of them, though, have a chance to make history like the Gidus brothers. And none will be more proud of themselves if they finish.

"We've always been pretty close. We stuck together in school, protected and watched out for each other," Stephen said. "We're going to run this race together. We think it's pretty cool what we're doing now. It's something we'll always have."

Tim Povtak can be reached at tpovtak@orlandosentinel.com.

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Gidus Brothers Note: Prior to running the Boston Marathon, the Gidus Brothers carried out research that led them to believe three brothers had never qualified for and completed the Boston Marathon together. However, in a letter to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel published several weeks after the marathon, it was pointed out that four brothers, one of whom resides in Central Florida, completed the Boston Marathon in 2000.

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