Monday’s tragic explosions at the 117th Boston Marathon has impacted people worldwide, as this marathon has entrants from around the world. Canada had 2078 runners registered at the event, of which 232 came from British Columbia. Twenty five runners came from Victoria.
Sarah-Mae Pyndus, the only registered runner from Sooke, was a participant at Monday’s marathon. She returns to Canada on Wednesday, and will be meeting with the Sooke News Mirror to tell her story.
On her Facebook page she said, (Sarah-Mae Pyndus) “is overwhelmed by everyone’s concern. I was long done at the time and in the middle of a post-race massage five blocks away. We were told to vacate the building calmly, my heart sank and I almost RAN back to my hostel. We are still waiting on one of our “crew”, but all is well here. Once again, thank you all for your love”
She did complete the entire marathon before the explosions occurred, finishing in the top third of all runners. Of the woman runners, she came in as the 1044th runner, of 9,983 females, placing her in the top 11 per cent. She completed in just over three hours and 22 minutes. All marathons are 26.2 miles or 42.195 kilometers. Nearly 5,000 of the over 26,500 registered runners went through the final checkpoint (at 24. 8 mi, or 40 km) but did not cross the finish line due to the explosions.
Pyndus is a 25 year old runner, and keeps busy as a a Naval Communicator onboard HMCS Calgary.
Three people have been confirmed dead in the explosions and more than 100 people have been injured. No group or individual has come forward claiming responsibility for the bombings.
Information is available from the Boston Marathon website at baa.org.
