First Witness In Marathon Bombing Trial Says 'Chapter Has Closed'
BOSTON (CBS) – BAA Executive Director Tom Grilk was the first witness to testify in the Boston Marathon bombing trial and says he felt a profound sense of responsibility. He also got a renewed sense of gratitude afterward.
Grilk's role as a witness was to describe the Boston Marathon.
A community treasure and an international event.
The course.
The crowds.
The finish line.
And to set the stage for future witnesses.
"I went in with the most singular focus I could muster to simply answer the questions and have no other factors at work at all," Grilk said.
That meant keeping his emotions in check. Grilk admits, he was anxious and went to the courthouse alone.
He was on the stand for about an hour.
"What took place in that courtroom was a reminder of what so many people did when those bombs went off and afterwards," Grilk said. "They ran toward explosions. They ran toward death. They knew because they could hear people say that there could be secondary explosions. And they did it anyway."
Grilk won't discuss the Tsarnaevs, the trial process or the death penalty. He says he wants to make sure there's "zero chance" he affects the jury.
But serving as a witness definitely affected him, something he realized on his run after leaving the courthouse.
"I was more emotional in recalling the extraordinary acts of those exceptional people than I might have expected," he said. "As I ran along the Charles River, it seemed to me as though something had ended. It left me with a feeling that a chapter had closed for me."
Grilk says he and his colleagues at the BAA are planning this year's marathon with reference to the trial. They're focused on the runners, the volunteers and the spectators.
Everyone who makes the event what it is.