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Oak Ridge resident Mark Cristy was running in the Boston Marathon on Monday when two bombs exploded near the finish line. Cristy was not injured. Above, he runs in a half marathon in New Zealand a few years ago. (Photo courtesy Mark Cristy)
Amy Viars heard the first explosion about 30 minutes after she finished the Boston Marathon on Monday.
It struck her as strange. Then, about 10 seconds later, a second explosion. It seemed out of place. Maybe it was a cannon celebrating Patriots Day or a Red Sox win.
“It just got eerily quiet,†said Viars, a Powell resident who works at Oak Ridge Associated Universities. “Everyone just got eerily silent.â€
Amy and her husband James, who was there to cheer her on in her first Boston Marathon, decided to leave. About the time they started walking to their car, a quarter-mile away at the Prudential Center, they began hearing sirens. [Read more…]