For Bill Snyder his 28th Boston Marathon looked a whole lot different.
‘You see a lot more of the course when you walk,? laughed Snyder, 71. ‘I have a new respect for walkers and all the spectators that lined the streets for hours on a cold, wet and windy day.?
Snyder, an educator for 45 years and Brandon Middle School principal for 15 years prior to his retirement in 2012, is one of the Boston Marathon elite after joining about 50 official participants that have completed 25 or more consecutive Boston Marathons.
The April 20, 2015 Boston Marathon took on a new twist for Snyder.
‘This year my fianc? Jamie broke her wrist a few weeks before her first Boston Marathon,? he said. ‘So her doctor said she couldn’t run, but could walk the race. I could not just leave her at the starting line, so I walked with her. Honestly, 26 miles is really a long, long walk.?
The 16 minute walk pace may be a little slower than the veteran runner is accustomed to, but the atmosphere of the Boston Marathon and the traditions of the race continues to bring Snyder back each year. Snyder reflected on the turmoil in Boston two years ago.
On April 15, 2013, Snyder was about five miles away from completing the race when two explosions ripped through the finish line on the 26.2 mile trek of the Boston Marathon. According to news reports, the blasts left more than 170 injured and three dead. A massive manhunt for two suspects followed the incident for Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev of Cambridge, Mass. Tamerlan was killed in a gunfight with police overnight on April 19. Dzhokhar was taken into custody on April 19, 2014. Last month a Boston jury’s verdict held him responsible for the terrorist attacks.
‘Like other years, the security at the 2015 race was extremely tight,’said Snyder. ‘People still turned out for the race though’the events of 2013 are not going to stop them. There were pictures, flowers and cards at the memorials where the bombs went off? we could see them when we walked by in the race. Those memorials really made a statement. There is no doubt of his (Dzhokhar) guilt, but I’m not sure the death penalty will make a difference. Think about the people that had a leg blown off or lost a family member. Maybe life in prison so he has to live with what he did every day is a better sentence.?