Wisconsin Runners In Boston Share Impressions

Wisconsin marathon runners who competed in Boston Monday are sharing their stories about the bomb blasts that killed at least three people.

More than 400 Wisconsinites were registered to run the Boston Marathon. It was the first Boston race for longtime Milwaukee area runner Mary Gorski, who says she had just finished her run when the first explosion occurred.

“You immediately think of the worst case scenario: like a bomb or some type of attack, but you keep thinking no, there has to be a good explanation. I kept saying, ‘Maybe a generator has blown up.’ You try to think of some plausible reason why we’d be seeing this, and then right after that, there was a second explosion with more debris in the air, and then nobody thought it was anything other than something that shouldn’t have happened.”

Gorski says she quickly went through several emotions.

“First it was just incredible confusion, pause, then it became sadness and just anger. I’m just so angry that somebody would cause this kind of destruction at what’s supposed to be an event that brings people together.”

Gorski says she and other runners from Wisconsin quickly contacted their friends, to make sure everyone was okay. Back in Wisconsin, running groups like Badgerland Striders encouraged their members to phone or post Facebook messages indicating their status. A runner from Madison, Paul Webber, emailed Monday night saying the first bomb sounded similar to an artillery round. Webber says after the second explosion everyone around him got eerily quiet. Then the emergency vehicle sirens started and there were non-stop sirens for a while. Today, as more of the Wisconsin runners return home, the investigation ramps up in Boston.