PANAMA CITY — They were about a half of mile from the finish line when the bombs went off.
“We’re running along and we see people running toward us,” said third year Boston marathoner Joe Edgecombe. “The police are saying ‘the race is over.’ ”
“We had heard sirens and stuff, but, you know Boston — there’s always sirens,” added five-timer Margaret Kirkland.
Edgecombe and Kirkland are two of a handful of local runners that are running in Monday’s race. They flew out Friday to finish what they started.
“It’s unfinished business,” they said simultaneously minutes before training at a local park.
“We did the distance, but we didn’t officially cross the finish line,” Kirkland said. “To me, it’s also like a memorial: You can’t stomp on me. After we’ve been pressed down, we’re coming back.”
Despite the terrorist attack that took three lives and injured about 260 people, roughly 36,000 runners and up to a million spectators are estimated to attend the annual Massachusetts Patriot’s Day marathon.
“I’m going to be more cautious, but I’m not afraid,” Kirkland said. “It is going to be different this year; I think there’s going to be a camaraderie that there hasn’t been before between runners.”
“You think of the 260 people that were injured, them and all their families will be there,” Edgecombe added. “I think it’s going to be very emotional for everybody’s involved.”
“I don’t know if I’ll go back,” he added. “But I definitely want to finish it this year.”
Bib number, name, age, city
22776 Joseph Edgecombe, 65, Panama City
19165 Jennifer Fields, 42, Panama City Beach
2626 Alexander Hyman, 20, Panama City Beach
19186 Amy Mann, 36, Panama City
15365 Jim Meadows, 52, Panama City Beach
21937 KarenMeadows, 50, Panama City Beach
4435Matthew Price, 32, Panama City Beach
12582 Michael Wiser, 49, Panama City Beach
24985 Margaret Kirkland, 61, Southport
23481 Jill Wofsey 50, Alford