When a pair of Kingwood runners saw the devastation unfold at the Boston marathon, they had an idea for a run to pay their respects to the injured and the dead.
"We put together a tribute run for the Boston marathon. We decided to get a group of people out and to pay respect to what happened this week and it's grown into quite the event," runner Ginger Salas said.
"We're a huge family out here and we never realized it until we put this together, thinking maybe we could get 20 people to come. And I think we might end up with 200 who have RSVPed to do this event on Facebook," Suzie Peterson said.
Turns out there were a lot of people in the greater Houston area thinking about Boston. Among them were several runners who ran in the marathon that came under attack, honoring those who did not go home from the race unharmed.
"We were in the family meeting area and we could hear it and feel it," runner Debra Hexsel said.
Hexsel had just completed the race when the first explosion happened. She said she ran more quickly than she anticipated, and feels that her faster pace may have saved her from being injured or killed.
"Hard to be excited when so much tragedy happened," Hexsel said.
It was the exact opposite for runner Sally Cheadle. It was a slower pace that kept her from finishing right around the time of the bombings.
"I had some calf cramps and really that was probably what saved me," Cheadle said.
Cheadle was among the runners stopped at around mile 25.
"I couldn't find my friend for 2 hours. She knew I was supposed to cross about the time the bomb went off, and I knew she was going to be at the finish line, and so for two hours we were in complete panic," she said.
Everyone here is relieved those believed to be responsible are no longer at large. The marathoners plan to return to Boston to prove the attack did not destroy their spirit.
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