All three runners Beth Florek, Derek Larner and Tom Gammage had completed the race and were toasting their success in nearby bars when the twin explosions went off at the finish line.
Graphic images of victims who lost limbs in the explosion were shown in television news footage following the blasts. The race, the world’s oldest marathon, was immediately cancelled and a no-fly zone declared over the area as police blamed terrorists for the explosion.
Speaking from his hotel in Boston on Monday evening Mr. Larner told the Compass a friend had reported hearing the explosion minutes before it flashed up on the news.
“We had gone into a bar to have a celebration and it came on the news. It was one of those moments were everything just stops. There was absolute silence. Nobody could really believe that this could happen at an event like a marathon.”
He said he had quickly called round the rest of the Cayman contingent and found that everybody had avoided the blast.
Ms Florek who had completed the marathon in around three-and-a-half hours was in a different bar across town when the bomb went off.
She said: “I’m definitely feeling very fortunate right now. As soon as this happened you just forget about everything else. I had friends there who had just run their best ever times but all that celebrating just stops and the magnitude of what has happened takes over.”
The twin blast took place just before 3pm Boston time, approximately two hours after the winners crossed the line.
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So glad the Cayman contingent was safe.