By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BOSTON — Marathon Day in Boston is supposed to be a wonderful time for runners from around the globe to come together for one of the world’s premier racing events.
All that changed, however, when two bombs exploded Monday afternoon near the finish line of the race killing three people and injuring more than 130 others.
Students from Houlton Southside School were in Boston Monday as part of an after-school program activity. None of the students were injured in the incident. According to RSU 29 Superintendent Mike Hammer, the students were part of the 21st Century After-school Program under the guidance of Susanne Lawlor. The group was on a field trip to Boston after they received free tickets to a Boston Bruins hockey game.
The group had stopped at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, which is located near the waterfront, and was planning to attend the Bruins game that evening.
“Tiffany (Karnes, Houlton Southside School principal) and I were in contact with the group and she strongly urged them to come back,” Hammer said. “At about that time, I think the governor was telling visitors to return to their hotels. Our group left town. This was prior to the game being postponed.”
After the bombs exploded, a note on RSU 29’s Facebook page notified parents that their children were safe.
“For all parents who have students on the Houlton Southside after-school program trip … everyone is fine and safe and nowhere near where the incidents took place. They have decided to not attend the game and are already on the bus headed back. They will be making a stop in Portland before coming home.
Parents were also able to reach out to Lawlor via cell phone for additional information or with any questions they had. The group stopped in Portland to shop at the Maine Mall before returning home Monday evening.
Sarah Beasley, a Houlton native and 2002 graduate of Houlton High School, is a registered nurse who lives in Bangor. She was in Boston as a volunteer nurse, working on a bus that picked up runners who were unable to finish the marathon for various reasons and bring them to the medical tent at the finish line.
Just 20 minutes before the explosion happened at 2:50 p.m., Beasley was at the finish line area dropping off runners.
“I had just done one of my runs and we dropped off about 30 runners or so,” Beasley explained. “We had left the finish line area, and were going to pick up our next batch of runners, when I heard the news on our radio that an explosion happened. We were outside of the city at that point.”
Beasley said once the explosion happened, her role shifted into gathering runners along the route and redirecting them to shelters, like Boston College.
“The runners were pretty terrified,” she said. “There were a lot of scared people at checkpoints.”
Because the bombs were believed to be located in garbage cans near the finish line, all of the checkpoints had to be examined for potential explosive devices, she said. Because the race draws so many individuals from around the world, many of who do not speak English, notifying the runners proved challenging.
“A lot of people, at first, didn’t know why we were telling them that the race was over and they had to get off the course,” she said.
Beasley said many were worried about additional bombs going off, prompting officials to change shelter locations several times.
Houlton resident Dave Goodrich was also in the city Monday, spending time with his grown children Tamara and Oliver. An avid runner, Goodrich is also friends with many participants in the marathon and was in Boston to provide encouragement. He even jumped into the race at one point to run alongside one of his friends.
“I jumped in the race with my friend and we talked about me running to the finish line with her, but looking at my watch, I realized time would be tight for meeting up with my son and daughter,” Goodrich said.
His children were at the Boston Red Sox game and the three were slated to meet up after the game at Oliver’s apartment. Goodrich said he wished his friend well and dropped out of the running at mile 22 before returning to his son’s apartment. At the apartment, he logged into Facebook and within a few minutes he learned of the horrible incident that transpired.
“I was sitting there horrified,” Goodrich said. “I was stunned. I was able to track down all of my friends who were running, which were about 100, and thankfully all of them were OK.”
Goodrich said for a time, cell phone coverage went down as the area was flooded with so many calls. He was able to maintain contact with other family and friends via the Internet.
Returning home Tuesday morning, Goodrich said he spotted flags flying at half-staff and numerous locations with candles lit as a memorial.
“It was such a surreal thing,” Goodrich said. “I don’t know how else to describe it.”
Goodrich added his main reason for running is to make memories and meet people.
“These aren’t the memories that I want to have,” he said. “I don’t think it will really hit us until we get home. This is an attack on America and an attack on our sport.”
Ben Austin, a Houlton native who now resides in Boston, was at work when the incident took place.
“Everyone is waiting to see what is going to happen,” he said. “Listening to the radio on the way into work today (Tuesday), everyone is in shock. It’s a very solemn kind of day. Everyone is shaken up, even if they weren’t there.”
Austin said he had a colleague who was volunteering at the finish line. She wasn’t injured, but stayed to help in whatever way she could.
“It’s pretty rough to have this kind of thing happen on what is supposed to be a great day in Boston,” Austin added. “Marathon Day really is a holiday in the city, so to have something like this happen on what is supposed to be a cheerful day. A lot of people in my office ended up sitting around watching the news and giving updates on co-workers who were at the marathon. A lot of us also spent a good amount of the day making calls to friends to make sure everyone was safe. My parents even heard about it and called me from Aruba 30 minutes after it happened.”
Despite the tragedy, there was some good that came from the incident, Austin said.
“There were so many wonderful stories coming out about runners who had just finished the marathon and then ran to the hospital to give blood,” he said.
Houlton native Aaron Anderson, a student at Emerson College, said the campus has been in “lock-down mode” both Monday and Tuesday. The college is located just three blocks from where the attacks took place.
“I saw a rush of people coming away from the incident at the time and I started getting text messages from people asking me if I was OK,” Anderson said. “I thought ‘why would I not be OK?’ At that point I didn’t know what had happened.”
He then looked on the social media site Facebook and learned of the horrific details. He then started making calls and texts of his own to his friends and family.
Watching the events unfold, Anderson said thoughts ran through his mind of “what if another bomb was located at the school?” He added, like most of his college friends, he was left wondering who did the attacks and why.
In a statement to the media Monday, President Barack Obama commented on the tragedy.
“Earlier today, I was briefed by my Homeland Security team on the events in Boston. We’re continuing to monitor and respond to the situation as it unfolds. And I’ve directed the full resources of the federal government to help state and local authorities protect our people, increase security around the United States as necessary, and investigate what happened.
“The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight. And Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss. We don’t yet have all the answers. But we do know that multiple people have been wounded, some gravely, in explosions at the Boston Marathon.
“We’re still in the investigation stage at this point,” Obama stated. “But I just want to reiterate we will find out who did this and we will hold them accountable.”
