Reports are coming out about a pair of explosions rocking the finish line area of the Boston Marathon. We’ll have to wait to know more of what happened.
When I was a kid, we happened to be visiting in Boston the day of the Marathon. It was easy to get near the finish line and watch the runners cross it.
Many of the runners collapsed in exhaustion, but a team from Japan had a different twist. After each of their members finished the race, the ran over to a stage, hopped up on it, and began drumming. They kept this going while more of their team finished.
It was a remarkable display of energy (we were tired just making our way around town and to the top of the Hancock building).
Years later, I lived in Boston and its suburbs. As a local, the Marathon was more of something to be avoided as a bit of a tourist trap. There were better ways to spend Patriots Day than with crowds and delays.
The Marathon, though, is one of those epic races, and runners look to it the way mountain climbers view Everest or biker riders view the Tour de France. It attracts people from all over the globe, each trying their best to navigate the hills that lead them into the city.
Early reports from Boston say people were hurt in explosions today. That’s not what the Marathon is, or should be known for.
Sad
Two dead and 20+ injured according to early reports.
Boston hospitals reporting 100 injured.
A Horrible Situation
I’ve just heard from several friends who were at the finish line waiting to see family members who were running.(Thankfully they are all safe) 2 bombs went off -1 under the viewing grandstand-1 in front of the Fairmount Hotel. 2 people dead -64 people injured-many of them critically. Another device exploded in the Kennedy Library in Dorchester- 2 other undetonated devices were found near the finish line.
Friends who live about 2 blocks from Copley square told me the explosions were incredibly loud and shook their building. No cell service or power in the vicinity. This is so horrific. I lived in Boston for 36 years -raised my 4 kids there. The Marathon is such a fun, family oriented event in the city-especially since it occurs at the start of school vacation week. My heart is hurting for the people injured; the families of those killed and all the people who were affected by this terrible event. It’s very sad.
JFK Library
Another explosion and fire reported at the JFK library. I just heard on the news that 64 are injured, 8 critically and two dead, but no further information on the event at The library. This is crazy.
Rep Welch says:
“Like all Vermonters and all Americans, I was horrified to learn of the events that unfolded in Boston this afternoon. As we anxiously await news on Vermonters participating in this event, we pray for the victims, their families, and the residents of the great city of Boston.” – Peter Welch
Best of Brattleboro
Thank you Steve, Laura, Jean, and Barbara for sending us your warm thoughts and concern. We feel it and sincerely appreciate it. It is indeed a very sad night in Boston.
Barry and Kevin
In Boston
Were you at the race?
no, I was at work, as was
no, I was at work, as was Kevin. Most of the city was off from work due to the holiday. He was just about to hop on a train to head home (which is way too close to the explosions) to walk the Chihuahuas when the bombs went off. I immediately called his cell and asked him where he was and he said he was getting on the train. I told him to leave the station immediately as “they” were bombing Boylston Street. He hopped on a public bicycle and rode home(the one time I didn’t care that he didn’t wear a helmut, but bought him one last night).
It’s funny how we instantly think that “they” did the bombing, with no way to know anything about it, or how “they” might really be “he” or “she”. We cry because of the ache in our chest for people we have never met, not only because they may have been hurt or killed, but because they were so terrified and we don’t know how their lives may be forever changed, how the city will be changed. I ache for a big city where people are often invisible, in huge numbers, on the street. I keep thinking about how one week ago today I met my friend Amy for lunch at the corner of Exeter and Boylston for lunch, like I so often do, to learn she is expecting her first baby. She works in the building where the first bomb went off, the one that we keep seeing explode in the footage. She was home yesterday, also due to the holiday, thank God. But I am still sick to my stomach.
"they" did the bombing
But, who is “they”?
Already there are reports of a “Saudi National” being held for questioning.
But from a TV station in Mobile Alabama, this:
University of Mobile’s Cross Country Coach, who was near the finish line of the Boston Marathon when a series of explosions went off, said he thought it was odd there were bomb sniffing dogs at the start and finish lines. “They kept making announcements to the participants do not worry, it’s just a training exercise,” Coach Ali Stevenson told Local 15 (news).
Stevenson said he saw law enforcement spotters on the roofs at the start of the race. He’s been in plenty of marathons in Chicago, D.C., Chicago, London and other major metropolitan areas but has never seen that level of security before.
“Evidently, I don’t believe they were just having a training exercise,” Stevenson said. “I think they must have had some sort of threat or suspicion called in.”
Stevenson had just finished the marathon before the explosions. Stevenson said his wife had been sitting in one of the seating sections where an explosion went off, but thankfully she left her seat and was walking to meet up with him.
“We are just so thankful right now,” Stevenson said.
ALL CREDITS TO: LOCAL 15 News, Mobile Alabama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0HWRQ8YnrWg
not sure
I don’t think anyone has claimed responsibility, or that anyone has been charged. I was thinking of all these fearful and strange things that seem to happen when we are stunned and panic filled: the need to talk to and hear the voice of someone you love, the strange feelings of affection you can have for a huge city filled with total strangers, the lingering ache in your chest, the look in people’s eyes on the street the day after, and the use of the word “they” when it is all trying to sink in while you try to tell someone and struggle to make any kind of sense of what is happening, and what may still have yet to happen.
It just seems common to say “they are bombing Boylston Street” when you are trying to convey what is happening vs. “She (or he) is bombing Boylston Street”, as if there is a “they” who would do such a thing.
A Common sight
I lived in Boston for over 3 decades and attended many Marathon days with my kids and friends and there were always many bomb sniffing dogs along the finish and starting lines. Particularly in Copley Square where the crowds were so dense in a very small area and certainly much more so since 9 11. I’m not saying that the police didn’t have suspicions about something that could happen – just that the presence of the dogs is not necessarily a sign that any authorities were aware of anything wrong.
A reflection on the bombing
http://carriejones.livejournal.com/304150.html
Boston Pix
Interesting, but far from conclusive.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34645.htm
Boston Bruins last night...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV-k2OgwRnY&feature=share
FBI identifies suspects
FBI identifies suspects in Boston Marathon bombing (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
http://rt.com/usa/fbi-suspects-boston-bombing-078/
Coming to an end?
Quite a night/day in Boston. We have friends and clients in just about every neighborhood they’ve discussed – Central Square, MIT, Watertown. Hoping everyone can get some rest soon.