A 27-year-old Victoria runner is thankful to be safe after she finished the Boston Marathon just 30 minutes before two explosions rocked the finish line of the race, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more.
Katie Munro, a Camosun College business student, spoke with The News from the home of a friend's mother in Boston. She left the finish line about 10 minutes before the first explosion detonated around 3 p.m. E.S.T.
"I hung around the finish line (area) for probably 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes, and was sitting a block and a half from where it happened for a while after that," she said. "Finally I decided to get up and move onto the subway, and I think (the explosions) happened right when I got down into the subway because a whole bunch of people came down the stairs. I was still totally oblivious. I thought ‘Oh, people in a hurry.'"
Munro heard comments about an explosion, but she wasn't aware of how serious the incident was until she arrived back to her friend's home.
“When I got back (my host) hugged me and I thought she was congratulating me at first," she said. "And then she confirmed, it was all over the news. She said, ‘I can’t believe it. You’re so lucky, you’re fine.’”
Munro was the only member of her Peninsula Runners running group to attend the Boston Marathon. She said the atmosphere in the city is tense, and she's not sure if she'll be on her flight back to Victoria, scheduled for Tuesday morning.
“I’m assuming lists of the travellers want to get out as soon as possible,” she said.
At least 27 Greater Victoria runners were scheduled to attend the Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Athletic Association website.
More than 230 British Columbians were scheduled to run the race.
-with files from Daniel Palmer
dpalmer@vicnews.com