Susan Moore
Boston
I had crossed, the gun time was 4:08:59 and we were hugging right after the finish line. And it was like a cannon or a fireworks gone bad and we turned and it was just one of those moments, where I can’t explain it, you actually don’t know what’s happening. We saw the smoke, we saw the debris, we saw people screaming. We heard the second one and they grabbed me, I think I was in shock, they said let’s get out of here, start calling your mom. We got to our meeting spot, the Park Plaza Hotel, and we just waited. It was probably the worst 20 or 30 minutes of my life waiting for my mom. And then my family showed up. I’ve probably gone over it 1,000 times in my head. I haven’t slept in two days. A lot of people I don’t think have. I never see it differently, but I always just wonder, what if I hugged my mom when I passed her back at Fairfield for another 20 seconds, where would I have been? If I run faster, if I run slower. But what if doesn’t really help at all.
—As told to Boston magazine. Photo by Scott M. Lacey