The Shoes We Wore #BostonShoes

Kelsey Perkins

Kelsey Perkins21
BarringtonR.I.

I was running with two of my best friends, but we didn’t finish. Our plan had been to meet up with a bunch of friends who were going to jump in with us at Boston College. We came over Heartbreak Hill and we were so excited to find them and see the crowds. We were getting past B.C., and we hadn’t seen them yet, which seemed a little strange. When we did run into them, we didn’t understand why they were trying to stop us—they were saying, No you need to listen to us, this is what happened.

For those of us who were running and were fortunate to be far enough back, it was a lot of mixed emotions. But at that point, you forget about how your body feels, and you just go tunnel vision on finding your loved ones. The goal is no longer crossing that finish line; it’s finding everybody and knowing that everybody’s safe.

—As told to Boston magazine. Photo by Scott M. Lacey