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‘You could smell the bomb blast’ Kanata runners escape injury at Boston Marathon Blair Edwards and Steve Newman blair.edwards@metroland.com
DENISE MORIN
Steve Morin, an engineer at Alcatel-Lucent in Kanata, stands at the 2013 Boston Marathon finish line the day before bombs exploded, killing two, including an eight-year-old boy, and injuring more than 100 people.
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EMC news – Steve Morin was a block away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off. He never heard a thing – at the time he was receiving a massage in the John Hancock building, along with several other runners who had completed the 42-kilometre race on April 15. Morin, an engineer who works at AlcatelLucent in Kanata, had finished the race earlier that day and was recovering. A manager announced an “incident had just occurred” and all runners were asked to proceed away from the finish line area. “We were all asked to leave and went upstairs on the streets,” said Morin. “The streets were just crazy with people in shock and you could smell the bomb blast,” he said. It was impossible to walk on the roads, he said, with the streets flooded with SWAT teams, ambulance and other emergency workers. “People were crying,” he said. “They said there were body parts everywhere.” Morin said he tried not to look at the area of the bomb blast. He walked five kilometres to meet up with his family, who had accompanied him to watch the marathon. Along the way, Morin received texts from concerned friends and family members. “Everyone was texting me to ask if I was OK,” he said. “I texted them I was fine.” Morin said runners were having trouble making calls on their cellphones, but were able to send out texts. “We relied on strangers and borrowed their cellphones and got a lot of help from Boston people – they were very friendly.” Morin said he hopes the tragedy won’t hurt the marathon in the future. “I’m trying to figure this out today,” he said, a day after the event. “I don’t think it will stop people from doing it (competing in marathons). I think it will unite people around not letting the terrorists affect how we behave.” BOMB
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Ottawa South News EMC - Thursday, April 25, 2013
No Kanata runners were injured after two bomb blasts killed two people and left more than 100 injured at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15. Nine Kanata residents were registered to compete in the annual 42-kilometre event, and more than 2,000 Canadians were in Boston for the race. No Canadians were injured at the marathon, according to the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs on April 15. Jane Armstrong, a Kanata Lakes woman who trains runners in duathlon, triathlon and running events, was at home watching the results live via the Internet the day of the race. She was tracking the results of two of her students as well as some of her friends from Ottawa’s running community competing in the event. One of her students, Jenny Hopkins had already finished the race with a time of three
hours and 29 minutes – her other student, Terri Bolster, still had more than an hour before she would reach the finish line. “I stopped at one point, went for a run and a bike workout for one hour around the time of the explosion,” said Armstrong. When she returned to check the race results on the computer, the website listed Bolster as having completed 40 kilometres. “I could tell she was running strong so I was puzzled,” said Armstrong. Then the emails and phone calls started pouring in. “What’s going on in Boston, Jane? Do you know?” read one email. Armstrong then checked for media reports, and learned bombs had gone off near the finish line. “Then I panicked,” she said. “Terry had to be close to the explosion or right in the thick of it.” Armstrong went to her Facebook home page, where she was connected with hundreds of runners and running groups, and left messages for her two students. “I knew Jenny had her phone with her, I said please call me.” Both students eventually responded that they were alive and unhurt. “Both of them said they’re happy to be alive and well.” Bolster, a 62-year-old Orléans woman and a retired teacher, said she’d been one kilometre away from the finish line when the bombs went off. “All the runners were panicked,” Bolster later told Armstrong. The streets near the finish line were shut down and congested with people and the runners were forced to stop. “They were freezing,” said Armstrong. “They started to shiver, muscles were seizing up. A stranger gave (Bolster) a sweatshirt to stay warm.” LOCKDOWN
Renfrew County marathoners are shaken, after two bomb blasts left three people dead and more than 100 others injured at Monday’s Boston Marathon. Stewart Campbell, a former Renfrew resident who now lives in Pembroke, celebrated his 55th birthday by completing the 117th edition of one of the world’s most prestigious road races. Campbell finished his 25th marathon in 3 hours and 11 minutes. But about an hour later one of his Pembroke running colleagues, Bob Bobeldijk, 76, was within about 300 metres of the finish line where the first bomb exploded. Bobeldijk kept on running, but 10 seconds later a second bomb went off, closer to him, and security people rushed onto the course and prevented any runners from continuing. Earlier in the race, Bobeldijk stopped to use one of the race course portable washrooms, which Campbell said may have saved his life. Most worrisome for Bobeldijk was that he knew his wife Arpick was waiting for him near the finish line. See OTTAWA, page 11