About 500 runners, walkers and volunteers converged on Stanley Park Sunday morning to participate in the event.
WESTFIELD – Andrea J. Domings was less than one mile from the Boston Marathon finish line when two bombs that killed three people and injured nearly 200 exploded, ending her run on a day that should have been a celebration of achievement.
Domings, a Westfield State University student from Lexington, was among a crowd of about 500 runners, walkers and volunteers who converged on Stanley Park Sunday morning to participate in the Run for Boston to benefit victims of the bombing. It was organized by a group of Westfield runners who were in the Boston Marathon, as well as the Western Massachusetts Distance Project.
“I was stopped on Boylston Street with less than a mile to go,” she recalled. “I heard that first blast and thought it was thunder or a cannon. The second blast startled me, and when I turned the corner, I saw smoke everywhere.
Jason Ayr, with the Western Massachusetts Distance Project, along with fellow member Vanessa Diana, a Westfield State University English professor, said the event at Stanley Park was organized to be a celebration of community and spirit. It came after the capture of suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, after an intensive four-day manhunt.
During a pre-dawn firefight Friday, his older brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest, was shot by police and died shortly after, while the younger brother narrowly escaped—after first running over Tamerlan's body with the stolen Mercedes they were driving, officials said.
“The capture has lightened the mood,” said Westfield Police Capt. Michael A. McCabe, who had crossed the marathon finish line just 15 minutes before the home-made, pressure cooker bombs exploded.
Domings said she is grateful that the suspects no longer pose a threat, but the events of that day have left lingering doubt in her mind.
“I feel relieved and happy, but I’m still skeptical,” she said.
The spirit of community on Sunday resonated loudly with all those who participated, and represented a coming together of people in the way it was intended, said Ayr, who spearheaded the initiative.
“The response to this is exactly what we wanted,” he said. “It’s a testament for how much people want to help. It’s good seeing everyone all together, and it’s lifting everyone’s spirits after the fear of the last week.”
Ayr also said he hoped to make Run for Boston an annual event as a memorial dedicated to that infamous day and its victims.
“It’s important to remember,” he said. “We can always come together as a community without it having to be in the wake of a tragedy.”
The event, said Annie Parades, of the organizers, raised “well into the thousands,” with donations stuffed into a water-cooler bottle and collected in a trash bag that included big bills and many checks.
“You’ve got to take the silver lining,” McCabe noted. “We wouldn’t be here today united as a community if it hadn’t been for the bombings. This day did was it was supposed to do: Get everyone together, raise money and realize that life is a precious thing that goes on.”