The Boston Marathon was unlike any other marathon I’ve ever been to.
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As one runner neared the finish line near Boylston and Exeter streets, where two explosions erupted three years ago, he handed spectator Judy Tarr, 64, of Nashua, N.H., an imitation rose and asked her to place it near the site of the bombings.
But it was here at the finish line where they each were able to savor this personal goal.
Haslet-Davis, who crossed the finish line roughly 10 hours after starting the race to support Limbs for Life, also threw out the first pitch at the Red Sox game April 15 – the three-year anniversary of the bombings.
That’s when the Boston Police Officer stepped in. “It’s something we’ve done for many years”. “It’s really emotional because I think of all of the definitions that this finish line has held”.
At the press conference, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh explained the need for security for the world’s oldest marathon, which serves as a “symbol of our collective strength and resilience”. McFadden posed at the finish line for a victory photo with the Richard family.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his second straight wheelchair race in a three-man sprint to the finish. The Boston bombings cast a dark, depressing pathos over the city, but in the three years since, the popular, reinvigorating hashtag #BostonStrong has lived up to its name.
On Monday, April 18, more than 30,000 runners took off from Hopkinton and traveled 26.2 miles to Boston.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to run Boston”, said David Harris, 42, of Atlanta, who qualified for the race. “You can’t control what happens in your life, but you can control how you handle it”.
Downes and Haslet both are running to raise money for people with physical disabilities.
Adrianne Haslet and Patrick Downes are members of the One Fund community, made up of survivors of the attack, their relatives and supporters.
“I start to think ‘God this is hard, but isn’t chemotherapy worse?’ and then I’m thankful because so many people don’t have the opportunity to do this-it makes me grateful”, she said.
“I’ve never seen it tighter”, former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told MassLive while watching the race. “#BostonStrong”, said New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in a Facebook post Monday.
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The person, who wished to remain anonymous, says they were watching the race from the 5th floor at 745 Boylston Street.
