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Athens Runners Reported Safe After Fatal Marathon Blasts
By: Associated Press, Atish Baidya, Taylor Mirfendereski
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UPDATE 7:02 p.m. Two Ohio University staff members, a former OU men’s track student-athlete and the owner of a local Chinese restaurant were running in the Boston Marathon where spectators and runners described twin explosions that shook the finish line Monday.
Michele Fiala, an OU Assistant Professor of Oboe, said she was in the family meeting area about a half a mile from the finish line when the explosions took place just before 3 p.m.
“There was just a huge noise that shook that ground,” Fiala said. “Then maybe 10 to 15 second later there was a second slightly smaller [explosion that] also shook the ground and you knew that something horrible had happened.”
Fiala said two of her running friends, Jessica Reed and On Lam, are also safe.
Reed works at OU as a dietician. Lam is the owner of the Athens Chinese restaurant Lam’s Garden.
"I'm still in a little bit of shock,” Fiala said. “An event like the Boston marathon has been happening for 115 years. It's horrible to think that anybody could do that sort of thing.”
OU alum and student athlete Craig Leon, who finished 10th in the race, tweeted to his followers that he and his group were safe following the explosions.
"Our group is safe. We are in a hotel on lockdown nearby and cell phones are out. Prayers to everyone outside," he wrote.
In an earlier tweet published at 2:59 p.m., Leon described the scene after the blasts as "mass chaos" with "people running everywhere."
Leon finished the race in 2:14:38, hours before the first set of explosions.
The Boston Police Department is reporting that at least two people were killed and several dozens injured in the explosions.
Police say a third explosion occurred at the JFK Library after the initial explosions. Authorities have not determined if that incident was related to the pair of marathon explosions at the finish line.
It is not yet clear what caused the blasts.
A former Ohio University men's track student-athlete finished 10th at the Boston Marathon, where spectators and runners described twin explosions that shook the finish line Monday.
Craig Leon placed third among American runners in 2:14:38, finishing prior to the explosions which reportedly happened before 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.
"Reports of two explosions 50 ft from the finish line," Leon posted on his Twitter account at 2:59 p.m. "Mass chaos. People running everywhere."
Leon could not be reached for comment, but send a message to his Twitter followers confirming his safety.
"Our group is safe. We are in a hotel on lockdown nearby and cell phones are out. Prayers to everyone outside," he wrote.
The Boston Police Department is reporting that two people were killed and 23 were injured in the explosions.
It was not yet clear what caused the blasts.