UP student gives his account of the bombings at the Boston Marathon
Junior Grayson Penfield ran the Boston Marathon Monday. After the bombs exploded, he couldn’t find his mother, who also ran the race, for over an hour. Both returned safely to Oregon. (Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON )
By Katie Dunn, Staff Writer dunn16@up.edu
Grayson Penfield, an experienced marathoner, usually stays at the finish line after he finishes to cheer on the other runners. But Monday in Boston, he didn't. It might have saved his life.
"If I wasn't waiting for my mom, I probably would have been at the finish line," Penfield said.
Penfield, a junior, finished with a time of 3:23:33, about an hour before the two bombs shook the city, killing three people and injuring more than 170.
Penfield ran the marathon with his mother, Elena Parker, who finished 20 minutes before the first bomb went off.
"I was a block away from the bomb, in an area where family members who have been waiting can meet up with you after the race," Penfield said.
He was waiting with his aunts for his mom to finish. She was on her way to meet them when he heard the explosions. At first unsure of the cause of the loud noises, Penfield knew something serious had happened when the shocked crowd fell silent.
"My stomach dropped, and some people started crying immediately, and some started running away," Penfield said.
Standing a block away from the finish line, he saw only a cloud of smoke, but not the massive explosions that tore off people's limbs and covered the ground in blood.
"I thought it might be a bomb, but then I thought no one would even care to bomb a marathon," Penfield said.
But Penfield knew it was serious, as the mood grew tense and terrified as police and medical personnel flooded the streets.
"I probably saw over a hundred ambulances, a bomb squad, the SWAT team," Penfield said. "It was madness."
He was worried about his safety but was also concerned about his mother. He had been texting her after she finished and was waiting for her with his aunts when the explosions went off. For more than an hour, he was unable to make contact with his mother, and began walking around the surrounding blocks searching for her. He finally found her on the same two blocks he had been circling, relieved to know she was safe.
"For that whole period of time I had no idea where she was or how she was doing," Penfield said.
All public transportation was stopped, and most streets barricaded, so people had to walk to leave the city.
After Penfield and his mom reunited, they headed for their hotel in Cambridge more than four miles away.
In the hotel, Penfield watched the news and President Obama address the nation. That was when he finally understood what had happened, the devastation and how close he and his family were to the explosions.
"I was exhausted from the race, the panic and sheer terror, and hours of walking," Penfield said.
Penfield returned to campus Wednesday and is back in class. He's thankful to be home, but not deterred from returning to Boston or running. He plans to run the Vancouver, USA Half Marathon June 16.
"Generally, people are good, but there's a few crappy people out there who try to ruin everything," Penfield said. "You can't just stop your life because of what they do."
