Laupahoehoe resident Alan Ryan tells Big Island Now that he is safe and OK following a pair of explosions that took place today at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Three were confirmed dead and more than 100 injured in the blasts that occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time, which was 9 a.m. Hawaii time.
Ryan said he was with fellow Hawai`i Island runner Lyman Perry and others at the Boston Tennis and Racquet Club, which was “about a quarter of a mile” away from the finish line when the explosions happened. He said that they had showered and were drinking beers at the time of the incident.
Ryan, who finished the race in 2:54:03, said that when the incident happened, a few women rushed through the club to see if they could leave the scene through a back exit since there was no other way out.
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He separated from Perry, who finished with a time of 2:51:43, and “turned and went toward the finish line just to find my friends. Just kept walking that way.”
Perry and Ryan, who both have competed in Hilo’s Big Island International Marathon, were part of the first wave of runners who ran the race. They had finished the race approximately two hours before the explosions had hit.
Ryan said Vicky Daniel, a runner from Honolulu, and her two friends from Guam whom he did not have names for, were also reportedly OK. Information had not been received for another Big Island runner, Kona’s Jon Jokiel. He ran in the second wave of the race and finished with a time of 3:17:17.
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