Valley runner finishes Boston Marathon before explosions

WASILLA — A noted Valley runner participating in Monday’s Boston Marathon finished about an hour before a pair of explosions rocked the fabled road race, killing at least three and injuring dozens more.

David Johnston, 43, finished the 26.2-mile race in 3 hours, 4 minutes and 47 seconds, about an hour before a pair of explosive devices detonated seconds apart near the finish line. After crossing the finish line, Johnston said he was exhausted and went back to his hotel to rest.

It was there that he first learned about the bombings, Johnston said Monday afternoon from his hotel in Boston. Although he finished and left the area before the explosions, his sister, Amy Johnston, finished shortly before the detonations and was still in the finishing chute at the time.

“Oh my word. My sister had just finished, like 10 minutes before the bombs went off and she was still in the corralling area,” Johnston said. “It takes forever to get out of the finish chutes for some reason.”

Amy Johnston was uninjured, but it took about 30 minutes to find that out, he said.

“We were worried, because I came straight back to the hotel and laid in the hotel bed,” Johnston said. “My mom and my son went down to look for her. They were on the way to check on her and said that everybody was screaming and running. It was really hard for them to meet up.”

Johnston said he first learned of the attacks when he heard the commotion from his hotel room.

“Laying down in the room, we heard all these sirens and helicopters, so we clicked on the TV and saw all this happening right then,” he said. “We also didn’t know there was more (explosives) going off. I heard just an hour ago that another bomb went off at a library, so it’s still going on.”

Another Alaskan at the race, Matt Crow of Anchorage, also missed getting caught up in the bombings. He finished the race in 3:40:00, about 20 minutes before the chaos. Like Johnston, he went back to his hotel and learned of the attacks later.

“I never knew anything about it,” he said. “I walked back to the hotel and my wife was on the subway. They shut the subway down and had everybody get off. I did notice some sirens, but I didn’t think much of it until my wife got back to the hotel and told me what had happened. It was a beautiful day and really such and unfortunate way to end such a nice day.”

The New York Times is reporting that an Associated Press account of the incident cites a U.S. intelligence official that two other explosive devices were found at the marathon, but not detonated.

“A senior United States government official said that the Boston police and the FBI said they had received no reports in recent days about a threatened attack on the marathon and that there was no warning on Monday,” says the story by New York Times reporters John Eligon and Ken Belson. “Eyewitnesses said the explosions were about 15 seconds apart. A few runners stopped and turned around after they heard the blasts. Some runners were seen crying and some said they saw limbs on the ground. Runners were directed to the runners’ meeting area and hotels several blocks away.”

Monday’s 117th running of the Boston Marathon was Johnston’s eighth time in the race. He finished the 2012 race in 3:20:46, and posted his best time of 2:54:17 in 2011. He was among 41 Alaskans in this year’s race and the fourth to cross the finish line. He was 2,802nd overall.

For Johnston, the race comes on the heels of another extreme distance race. In March, he won the Iditarod Trail Invitational foot race, a 350-mile endurance test from Knik to McGrath, in 4 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes.

Running such an extreme event six weeks before the Boston Marathon may not have been the wisest choice, Johnston said, adding he’s a glutton for punishment.

“Those painful memories fade very quickly,” he said, adding that six weeks probably isn’t enough recovery time. “No, definitely not — not to run fast, anyway. I’ve definitely recovered enough to run a marathon, but not to go for time, which is what I did today. That’s what did me in today. For some reason, this course does me in.”

At age 43, Johnston said he realizes he’s not 20 anymore, but feels he’s a smarter runner.

“You’ve got to be wise about it,” he said. “In hindsight, I should’ve taken it a little easier today or shot for a time 10 minutes slower. I was in pretty bad (shape) at the finish line. I was pretty close to fainting.”

While the bombings put a damper on one of the nation’s great running events, Johnston said there is still plenty of positive to bring home from Boston. One piece of that will be carried by his 11-year-old son, David Jr., who got a game ball at Sunday’s Boston Red Sox game. He and wife Andrea are also expecting a baby in about six weeks.

“He’s been to all eight (Boston Marathons) with me,” Johnston said of David Jr. “He learned to swim here in this hotel pool. He’s always talked about (getting a game ball) and he’s run up there in past games, so he was super-excited.”

Looking back, Johnston said he feels lucky he, his sister and family are safe and healthy.

“Oh yeah, we’re definitely lucky,” he said. “I know my sister was just mortified by the situation. She was just so upset emotionally.”

He also feels bad for the thousands of runners who hadn’t finished who were pulled off the course because of the bombings.

“The worst part is they did this with such a prestigious event where people try so hard,” he said. “I feel bad for those runners who trained and trained and had to be pulled off the course.”

Johnston said he plans to take it easy in Boston for a few more days, then return to his home in Willow. He also admits he’ll probably start getting antsy to train again for a pair of local distance races, the Mayor’s Marathon and the Resurrection Pass 100.

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.