I am at Logan International Airport now ready to head home. I was too physically and emotionally drained to post anything last night. My entire Boston trip experience was amazing until about an hour or so after I finished. I will write more about the great parts of the trip- the expo, seeing the city, and running the best marathon of my life later on this week. Running a marathon is such an emotional experience and to be hit with something like this immediately after you finish takes some time to process.

I was about a block away from the bombs when they went off. My friend and running buddy Tish had just finished and made her way over to the family meeting area where we had just reunited with her. My parents and sister were also with me. We were in the middle of taking pictures holding up our medals to celebrate when we heard the loud blasts. It sounded like a canon or thunder. We all sort of looked around at each other like “what was that?” but just carried on since we didn’t see or hear anything else. Then I headed back towards the finish with my parents and sister to eat at a restaurant with them before they left Boston.  As we were walking we heard loud sirens and saw many ambulances and police cars pass us on the street. We still had no idea what had happened.  When we got to the restaurant the manager was closing early and he informed us that there were two bombs that went off at the finish. I was shocked. Immediately, I knew that I needed to call John to let him know we were all ok but none of our phones would work. (We later found out that the majority of cell phone services were off because of possible cell bombs.)

We were stuck right on Boylston Street and it was total pandemonium. All we knew was that all public transportation around Back Bay was shut down and there were at least 2 bombs that had gone off and rumors of others that had not yet been detonated. Stores and restaurants were closing and locking their doors so we didn’t know where to go that was safe. We went to the Boston Commons area for a while trying up figure out what we should do next. Our main goal at this point was to get away from all the chaos and back to where I was staying in Cambridge.  During this time my brother-in-law was able to get a message to my husband that we were all ok and trying to get to a safer area. It was about a six mile walk back to where we were staying near Harvard. It took us a few hours to get there because of detours, traffic and we stopped a few times. All along the way we heard sirens and we did not feel safe. When we finally got to where we were staying I was able to talk to John for the first time.

So, so many emotions from yesterday. All I can say right now is that I am so incredibly thankful to be alive and well. I am grateful that my family and friends that were with me were also safe. At this time all I can think about it getting home to John and my babies and giving them all huge hugs.  My thoughts and prayers are with all those who were injured or who lost loved ones yesterday. Life is so short and fragile.

More to come on the actual race… SPOILER ALERT- 3:03:51!!! : ) Whoever is responsible for this disaster will NOT take this away from me. This is a confusing time because on one hand I want to celebrate running my best marathon ever but I feel guilty that I was able to finish and so many were not. It could have happened to any one of us…

Thank you for the FB messages, texts and tweets. Ready to be back home!

~ Tia