Hundreds of thousands of spectators took in the 120th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, a jubilant celebration that came three years after bombs detonated at the finish line of the storied race, killing three people and injuring hundreds more.
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Patrick Downes and Adrianne Haslet-Davis were the first two survivors of the 2013 bombings to complete the 26.2-mile race on prosthetic limbs.
Adrianne’s only competition at 7 p.m. were the street sweepers and the memories of how her life had forever changed on this last quarter-mile, as she stood outside The Forum restaurant cheering on other runners in the world’s most fabled marathon.
Ms Haslet, 35, was a professional ballroom dancer who received a prosthetic blade to do the quickstep and the jive, and only then chose to take up running, the news agency said.
Ethiopians almost swept the Kenyans off the podium at the Boston Marathon on Monday, winning both the men’s and women’s races for the first time in history and taking five of the six spots on the victory stand. Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns is running to support Every Mother Counts, a group she founded to help improve maternal health worldwide.
The crowd that flowed into Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood was apparently on its best behavior amid the high security for the Boston Marathon.
“When I was in the medical tent”, she said, “I wasn’t sure
I could do it. When I tried to stand, I just crumbled”.
“I kept trying to get [the prosthetic] in and try and walk, but it wasn’t working”, she said.
Spence Gracey was born into marathoning: Her father, Steve, was the No. 2 American in Boston in 1989; the next year she was born on race day while he was running.
“She was incredible, she’s my inspiration, one in 20,000 people survive with ALS and we’re in our fifth year, she is my wife, my inspiration”, Benyo said. She ran. For amputee Adrianne Haslet, the Boston Marathon was a grueling 10½-hour odyssey.
Since the 2013 finish line bombings, which killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 others, authorities have tightened security along the route.
Three died and more than 264 were injured in the Boston bombings on April 15, 2013.
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“Everybody always says to you, ‘thank you for coming back, ‘”she said”. She also is the social media editor for Sports.
