Locals finish strong at Boston Marathon

By Alexis Tarrazi (Straus News)

Team Eastern in Boston prior to the race.

BOSTON — Local runners from Team Eastern took to the streets of Boston on Patriot’s Day, April 21 and conquered.

Soaking in the crowd’s excitement helped drive each one to the finish line.

“The spectators were so energizing!” said Laura DeLea of Sparta. “They lined the streets 20 rows deep for 26.2 miles… Music blasting, fans cheering, the people of Massachusetts thanking us as we ran for not giving up on Boston and for being there for them. I can’t explain it… It made me laugh, it made me cry but most of all it made me keep on going even when I thought I had nothing left.”

The running group, made up of 11 locals across Sussex County, each finished the Boston Marathon. Some even ran a personal best — including Brendan McDonough of Sparta, Paul Meyer of Hackettstown and Lauren Huffman of Branchville.

Local runners are Boston bound

Photo by Amy Cilli
Team Eastern runner: Lauren Huffman of Branchville, Laura DeLea of Sparta, Jeremy Scheid of Sparta, Justin Schiedof Sparta, Brendan McDonough of Sparta, Billy Washerof Ogdensburg, Bill Bosmann of Sparta, George McDonough of Sparta and Paul Meyer.

BY ALEXIS TARRAZI (Straus News)

SPARTA — With each step, Karl Fenske and his girlfriend Julia Scales raced past hundreds of cheering fans and inched closer to the finish line of the Boston Marathon. They were 25 yards away from completing the 26.2 mile race when the first of two pressure cooker bombs explode on Boylston Street on April 15, 2013.

When the explosion occured Fenske and Scales were running on the other side of the street.

Fenske knew what it was right away.

“I knew it was a bomb, I knew the thing went off and then I saw body parts and people screaming and smelled the cordit,” Fenske said. “So I knew it was not part of the celebration. “I spun (Scales) around so she wouldn’t see the stuff I was seeing. There was a metal barricade to our right and jumped over that and ran into an alcove, a building hallway and huddled with another runner.”

Getting back to their car and escaping the scene was an ordeal.

“It was just the law of the jungle,” Fenske recalled. “There were good parts and bad parts. Terror and irrational behavior and incredible acts of benevolence.”

When they stopped in a hotel someone bought them a meal, another person gave Fenske a shirt and Scales a blanket to wear.

There was also a runner asking how he was going to get his finisher’s medal.

“This is World War 3,” Fenske said. “This is like Armageddon is happening and you are wondering about a finisher’s medal?”

They made it home and survived.

When it was over, three spectators were killed and 264 injured — at least 14 people required amputations.