OLATHE, Kan. — Saturday marks the first marathon in the metro following the bombings at the Boston Marathon. As many of the runners register for the race, several members of the training group, Runners Edge share their stories after returning from Boston. Thirty of the members ran in the 2013 Boston Marathon, however, three of them failed to finish because of the attack, Sarah Bibens was one of them.
“My daughter came running out on the course, pulled me off the course and said the race was over,” said Bibens.
When the FBI released the photos of bombing suspects Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26,Bibens couldn’t wait to see their pictures.
“I’ve never felt that way before about looking at some suspects photo,” said Bibens. “Then when I saw them I was so angry, and I’ve never felt that way either.”
In the midst of the chaos, Bibens and her family went back to the hotel, in Cambridge, where the suspects were tracked early Friday morning.
“To hear that these guys might have been just down the street in Cambridge was just weird,” said Bibens.
Hershel Davis and Melissa Brancato started the race together, both running their fourth Boston Marathon. Both runners finished before the explosion, Brancato was back at her hotel, but Davis was in a taxi cab just a block away when the first blast occurred.
“I heard the first one and I thought that’s not good news,” said Davis. “Then when I heard the second I knew for sure something was bad, police started running.”
As for justice being done after police shot and killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Davis says he’s not so sure.
“Justice probably isn’t the right word for it, there’s just no way how to complete that circle,” said Davis. “It’s an incomplete circle for those families and it’s because of those people, it’s cowardly, senseless,and heartless.”
Brancato finished the race scoring a personal record of 3:14:00, but later that night her happiness took second to everything happening around her. Brancato says she hopes to go back for a fifth time.
“I hope so, I’d love to, it’s an incredible, incredible race and the city is just amazing,” said Brancato. “The finish down Boylston Street, nothing compares to it. I hope that everybody who didn’t get to experience that this year gets to next year.”
As for the 2013 Garmin Marathon in Olathe, the three runners who did not finish Boston will run the final seven tenths to complete the full distance. Runners edge will also be collecting donations at the race for the One Fund Boston to help the victims.
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