Hundreds of Southern California athletes were among the elite runners participating in the Boston Marathon Monday when a pair of explosions rocked the iconic event, killing multiple people and injuring hundreds.
A 28-year-old runner from Huntington Beach finished her first Boston Marathon 29 minutes before the homemade bombs exploded. She watched from her hotel window in horror.
“It was really bittersweet because, you go from having one of the best moments in your life to just feeling really horrible and devastated,” Christian Fairing told NBC4 in a phone interview
About a dozen members of the Brea-based A Snail’s Pace Running Club – to which Fairing and NBC4’s Vikki Vargas belong – are in Boston for the marathon, which runners must qualify to enter. Most of them were among the fastest athletes that would have crossed the finish line at least 30 minutes before the bombs went off.
Complete Coverage: Boston Marathon Explosions
Bob Morris, at A Snail’s Pace Running Shop in Mission Viejo, kept close tabs on his running buddies as each one weighed in on Facebook and Twitter, telling their loved ones that they’re OK.
Morris’ colleague Liz Sponagle ran the Boston Marathon on its 100th anniversary in 1996. She remembered the joy of that moment and now finds herself wondering how Monday’s runners are coping.
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“We already try to apply logic to illogical situations, and you just can’t. I don’t know what somebody’s reasoning would be to do something like,” Sponagle said.
Social media was a lifeline for Boston runners' loved ones, waiting anxiously for word that the athletes are OK.
A dozen runners from the LA Leggers in Boston for the race are safe, according to the running club's president Jennifer Fah. Fah said she spoke with one of her runners directly, and the others used Twitter, Facebook and email to send updates from the East Coast.
The Facebook page of A Snail's Pace became a source of constant updates, a social media “roll call” for survivors.
Cerritos group Easy Runners sent 10 athletes to Boston, all of whom are safe but rattled after narrowly missing the explosions as they crossed the finish line.
Another 20 runners from Long Beach were safe and accounted for.
After two runners from Snail’s Pace were reported safe on the page, messages of “Praise God!” and “Such good news” filtered in.
Runners said they never expected their sport to be on the popularity level of professional football or baseball, and that the Super Bowl of running would be a target of violence.
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