Carmel runner just misses Boston Marathon explosions

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By Chris Bavender
[email protected]

The view of debris from Oliver's hotel room. (Submitted photo)
The view of debris from Oliver’s hotel room. (Submitted photo)

Carmel runner Todd Oliver had just finished the Boston Marathon and was three blocks from the finish line when he heard the explosions.

“I was at gear check and had just gotten my medal and was changing my clothes when we heard both explosions,” Oliver said by cell from his Boston hotel, the Westin, now the police command post. “I looked at the volunteers and asked if they knew what was going on. It’s like when you are at a bar and someone drops a glass and it shatters and shuts everyone up, and then the murmur kicks in again.”

Oliver said within a few minutes it was obvious by the look on passing police officer’s faces that something major was going on.

Something major indeed. At least 23 people were injured and two are reported dead after two explosions erupted near the finish line of the Marathon Monday afternoon. The Boston Globe reported that 90 people were injured.

“They started clearing the main roads of walk traffic and then there were seven to eight ambulances en route to that area,” he said. “At first, people thought it was a transformer, but then we could see the people running around crying and then traffic was locked down.”

As he was talking, Oliver was making his way to the lobby of the hotel to see whether he could get to the airport. He quickly found out Logan International had been closed until further notice.

Oliver is race director for the Carmel Marathon which is slated for this Saturday. He said security for the event was already in place before today’s tragedy in Boston.

“We have 96 police officers on our course and the command center at the finish line,” he explained. “We have 26 ham radio operators on the course who have government clearance. We also have four ambulances covering the course as well.”

Oliver noted that as one of the five largest and most recognized events, the Boston Marathon has more countries represented with elite athletes and Olympians “and if someone wanted to get attention, this is the place to do it unfortunately.”

“But this is not a running-related event, and we are ready to go and will be extra prepared this weekend,” he said.

Oliver started in the third wave of runners around 10:40 a.m. and finished with a time of 3 hours, 45 minutes.


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