Many locals heaved a sigh of relief after finding out a friend or loved one was uninjured after the bombing of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday.
Carl Lienert, an associate professor and chairman of the Mathematics Department at Fort Lewis College, finished with a time of 3:14:26. The explosions occurred about 4 hours and nine minutes after race start.
Carl is OK, said Mitch Davis, the spokesperson for FLC. He called some colleagues in the math department and posted a message on Facebook. Fortunately, he finished and didnt stick around.
Lienert was one of 2,873 Coloradans to complete the marathon.
Another Durango runner, Jill Badalati, had qualified for the marathon and registered to run in it after being deferred from last year because of heat.
I had surgery in the fall, she said. After I tried the half-marathon in Moab to see where I was physically, I realized I wasnt ready. I told my husband over the weekend, Im really bummed not to be running. And now its just heartbreaking.
Locals also had loved ones in Boston. Marjorie Brintons sister, Dot Helling, traveled from Vermont to watch the race.
That was a little frantic for a while, but shes fine, Brinton, who writes about running for The Durango Herald said, adding that her sisters cellphone was turned off. Brinton finally made contact with her sister through a friend about an hour and a half after the bombing.
Helling had been watching the marathon in Wellesley, Mass., which is about half way along the route and miles away from the site of the explosions.
Badalati, president of the board of Durango Motorless Transit, is worried about friends of friends she knew were running, but shes adamant about one thing.
Boston is very prestigious and very celebrated, which is why so many families go to watch it, she said. This would have been my first Boston, and Im still planning to run it at some point. You cant let this kind of thing stop you.
abutler@durangoherald.com
