Nearly 50 Long Island Runners Survive Boston Marathon, But Are Left Horrified
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- More than four-dozen local runners from Long Island escaped the Boston Marathon without injury Monday, but said they were still left in horror as the bombs went off.
As CBS 2's Derricke Dennis reported, the activity was nonstop inside the Greater Long Island Running Club in Plainview on Monday evening. Members checked Facebook pages and worked the phones, texting New York runners at the Boston Marathon in the middle of the chaos.
At least three people were killed, and 144 injured during the attack.
"So far, we've heard that everyone's OK," said director of development Sue Fitzpatrick. "There are some people that I know that ran that I haven't been able to see messaged on Facebook that they're OK, but that doesn't mean that they're not OK."
The explosions happened during the race, steps away from the thousands of runners crossing the finish line and their families watching as spectators. Many Long Island runners said they look forward to the race annually.
"Boston, every year -- it's a big race. It's a great race to run," Fitzpatrick said. "They have to qualify for it, so it's a really special race to run."
Among the runners was Barbara Cronin Stagnari of Mineola, who was visiting her college-aged daughter in Boston and running the marathon.
"You could hear a boom, but you had no idea what that was," Stagnari said.
She said she was steps away from the finish line, and said had the blast gone off just minutes later, she probably would have been hurt.
"I was probably about five blocks from finishing," she said.
Stagnari said her whole family were horrified.
"My daughter got really upset, but you could see all the smoke. My husband said you couldn't see any fire, but you could see a lot of the smoke come up," Stagnari said.
For many of the runners with this running club, the Boston Marathon was supposed to be a warm-up for the upcoming Long Island Marathon, and many said they'll still run, with what happened Monday fresh in their mind.
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