There were probably many thousands people who were closer to the bombing than I was both in time and place, and yet it was still too close for comfort. I waited over two months before writing this article, but the whole thing still doesn’t feel so far away.
This year was my third year volunteering for the Boston Marathon. Every year my father also secures a spot helping at the VIP luncheon in the Westin right next to the finish line. The job isn’t all that exciting, but it has its perks. We can always manage to take a break and watch the finish line in the VIP seating area. This year was business as usual. I helped the folks check up on their runners on the computer (which everybody can now do via their phones). As always, it was the same few people who would come back every ten minutes to see if there has been an update; I memorized all of their bib numbers by the end of the gig. I took my usual break and saw the winners cross the line. We wrapped up around 2:15 PM, and my dad asked if I wanted to go back to the finish line to see the “normal” runners cross the line. I declined, because I had to be at track practice at 3 PM that day.
The bombs went off when I was back on campus, but my teammates and I didn’t have a clue. We took off for our run, ran along the Charles for a bit on the Cambridge side, and then headed to the Boston side. Thinking back, the ten police cars that passed by with blaring sirens were a dead giveaway that something was wrong, even if it was Marathon Day. It was only when we got back to campus that we found out the news. Everyone was crowding the TV in the athletic center. The rest of track practice essentially ran as usual, but the coaches were methodically checking that everyone was accounted for, and people had brought out their cell phones to answer incoming texts and calls. I was itching to access a computer to check up on all of the runners that I had been looking up earlier that day, but everyone was generally okay.
It was quite a blessing that we all had to be at practice by 3 PM. Though the love for running brought many of my teammates out to watch the marathon, it was the same love for the sport and a commitment to the team that led us away from the scene before the bombing occurred at 2:50 PM.
Through the help of a donation made by an alumni runner of the track team, the entire team commemorated this year’s Boston Marathon by wearing blue and yellow shoelaces on our track shoes. I will always remember the 2013 Boston Marathon when I lace up my shoes, and I will run harder because of it. I hope that we all will. Boston Strong!
