Locals near Boston chaos

Casey Hartman was at work in Boston the afternoon of April 15 when she heard, and felt, the first explosion.
The personal stylist and 1996 Brandon High School graduate had no time to even begin to comprehend what had happened before a second explosion rocked the building.
‘I thought maybe they had fired a cannon. In Boston, I have seen cannons fired at least 10 times for special occasions,? said Hartman, who has a degree in fine arts from Oakland University and moved to Boston in the fall of 2007 to work in the fashion industry. ‘I thought, ‘I’m not going to worry until there is something to worry about.??
As it turned out, there was plenty to worry about. While a cannon firing might not have been so extraordinary on what was Marathon Monday and Patriots Day, a holiday in the state of Massachusetts, there was no cannon fired. The explosions were bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon by terrorist brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The bombs ultimately killed three people, wounded nearly 200 more, and stopped one of the world’s most famous races.
Just a few hours earlier, Hartman, an avid runner herself, had been on Boylston Street during her lunch break, watching elite runners cross the finish line.
‘It was crazy, everybody was happy, the marathon is like a party here,? she said.
Just a few hours later, the party was over. After hearing the second explosion, Hartman looked out of her work building’s window and saw people running away from where the marathon was, some crying, some with blood on their faces. Others appeared normal, unaware that anything was amiss.
Within six minutes of the explosions, Hartman called her mother, Ortonville resident Susan Seffens, to leave a message on her voicemail telling her she was OK in case she saw something on the news about an explosion in Boston. Hartman then saw the news herself as she refreshed CNN and other news websites and blogs.
‘People were running and they were evacuating the whole area and it was difficult to understand what was going on,? she remembers. ‘There was a lot of misinformation and you didn’t want to overreact and you didn’t want to underreact.?
By 4 p.m., Hartman, her co-workers and everyone in the building were on lockdown as police searched for other explosive devices in the city. At 7 p.m., she was finally allowed to return to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Tobia Ciottone, in the Back Bay area of Boston. She had to walk about 10 blocks in order to get a cab, noting there was no public transportation and police everywhere.
The next day, the subway was open, but with armed guards and police dogs everywhere. She went to work in a city that had a ‘heavy, heavy national guard presence.?
‘All of Boston Common was made into a makeshift crime lab… every scrap of paper, they were processing evidence,? Hartman said. ‘It was very scary. Obviously you don’t want to panic, but it was a really serious situation.?
Public transportation continued to run during the week, until Friday, April 19. Overnight, Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been killed following a gunbattle with police and a manhunt had commenced for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Hartman and Ciottone stayed in or near their apartment, about eight miles from Watertown, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was eventually discovered in a trailered boat in the backyard of a residence and taken into custody.
‘That day, we made lots of calls and no one rested until we heard from everyone,? she said. ‘Nothing was open, no stores, we couldn’t get food. That was one of the strangest feelings.?
Since the capture of Tsarnaev, while things are not back to normal in Boston, she said people are continuing on? going back to work and doing what needs to be done.
‘There has been a collective sigh of relief,? Hartman said. ‘We don’t feel like we’re in imminent danger anymore, which is nice.?
The feeling of anger remains.
‘For anyone in Boston, whether you are a runner or not, the marathon is joyous,? she said. ‘There is no other feeling than excitement and this attack on us is so insulting and makes us so angry? it’s a direct attack on all of the city. Boston is the marathon, the marathon is Boston. You messed with our marathon and that is a huge problem.?
Hartman hopes to run the Boston Marathon one day, most likely obtaining entry by running for a charity, as she doesn’t believe she would make the qualifying times.
‘It would be a shame to live in the city with the most famous marathon in the world and never run it,? she said.
Hartman said she will likely not run it next year, especially since she expects an ‘overwhelming outpouring? of people wanting to run the race. However, she will ‘absolutely? be there cheering them on in the race that has been celebrated for 117 years and in which runners will continue to persevere in a city and a country that will rise to the occasion.

Bib number 23886 did not complete the 2013 Boston Marathon.
The race identification belonged to Bill Snyder, an educator for 45 years and Brandon Middle School principal for 15 years prior to his retirement in 2012.
On April 15, Snyder, 69, was about five miles away when two explosions ripped through the finish line on the 26.2 mile trek of the Boston Marathon. According to news reports, the blasts have 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.
Snyder, an experienced Boston Marathoner and runner, flew in from his home in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. the day before, had extra motivation to enter the race.
In October 2012, Snyder had open heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and convinced the doctor who performed the operation that a goal of training for the Boston Marathon was a good recovery plan. The Boston Marathon requires a qualifying time of 4 hours and 10 minutes for male runners 65-69.
‘I had a heart valve replaced and was planning on still running the 2013 Boston Marathon,? he said. ‘I still wanted to race and the doctor who did my surgery cleared me to go ahead and run.?
For the first 20 miles, Snyder was happy with his performance.
‘I was going mile by mile and made the first half (of the race) without stopping,? he said. ‘I ran past Wellesley College and started to walk through a few water stops that are about every mile or so. I was doing great and felt better than I did in training. I was coming up on Heartbreak Hill’the last few miles are rolling (hills).?
Snyder said he was between mile 20 and 21 of the race when a young lady ran up beside him and asked him to stop running.
‘I was doing pretty good in the race, at that point I was going to finish between five and six hours,? he said. ‘I really did not want to stop, so I just kept going. Then she insisted that I stop and I thought I must look as if I’m going to pass out or something. But I felt good. This was going to be my 26th consecutive Boston (Marathon) why in the heck would I stop??
‘It was unreal’the race can’t be stopped,? he said. ‘No one was very happy out there, race workers were coming up and trotting along beside, saying the marathon was cancelled.?
‘At about that time, I looked ahead of me and there was a wall of Massachusetts State Police with automatic weapons across the road. ‘This was serious now,? I thought. Neither the runners on the course, nor officials along the road, had any idea what had happened in the downtown area where the bombs went off. So, they gave us thermal blankets to wrap around us and we walked off the course. But they kept us together.?
‘There was a group of about 50 runners and we got on buses. They drove us to a public center in nearby Newton (Mass.),? he said. ‘There was a lot of confusion and we started to hear stories of what was going on and why the race was stopped. Then we went on the bus to Boston College where we stayed for about an hour. They were trying to consolidate the runners into groups. No one had any information’we’d hear different stories from people,? he said.
Snyder had come to Boston the day before and was staying at a hotel downtown.
‘My hotel was less than four blocks from where the bombs went off,? he said. ‘A few hours after the race was cancelled the bus dropped me, along with other runners, downtown. I walked to my hotel and on the way I saw four or five trucks loaded with Massachusetts National Guard. Not just police or state troopers’soldiers with guns. They were at my hotel and I walked past them on the way inside. All those streets were part of the crime scene’I was on the outside edge. I had some friends that were staying in hotel rooms very close to the bombs and they had to stay in their rooms. They could not leave.?
‘It was very sobering’just four blocks away from the bombs,? he said. ‘It was a mass of confusion, sirens’I had friends that were in the race ahead of me that heard the bombs go off. There were a lot of people in trouble. Some of the runners that fiinished the race, kept running and went right to the hospitals to give blood to help the victims. There was a doctor that finished the marathon, then ran to a hospital to help people.?
The spirit and resilience of the Boston people and those associated with the marathon was amazing, added Snyder.
‘I really wanted to finish the race, but when I think about the people who lost legs and arms and those that died, I don’t feel bad for myself,? he said. ‘I’ll be back next year for another try. Like most all runners, we are a family that provides encouragement to each other to continue’it’s not a race against each other, rather against the clock.?

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