UP student gives account of explosions at Boston Marathon

By Katie Dunn

Two bombs, seconds apart, shook the city of Boston and the rest of America Monday afternoon. Grayson Penfield, a junior at UP who had finished the marathon more an hour earlier, was right in the midst of the chaos.

Before noon Pacific time, the bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Current reports state three people have died and over 100 are injured.

Penfield ran the marathon with his mother, Elena Parker, who finished the race 20 minutes before the first bomb went off.

"I was a block away from the bomb, in an area where family members who have been waiting can meet up with you after the race," Penfield said.

He was waiting with his aunts for his mom to finish. She was on her way to meet him and his family when he heard the explosions.

"My stomach dropped and some people started crying immediately and some started running away," Penfield said.

Being a block away from the finish line, he did not see the massive explosions  that sent barricades flying and crowds of people to the ground.

"I thought it might be a bomb, but then I thought no one would even care to bomb a marathon," Penfield said.

But Penfield knew it was serious as the mood grew tense and terrified and first responders reacted on scene. He was worried about his safety, but was also concerned about his mother's. Penfield wandered the city for over an hour before finding her.

"I probably saw over a hundred ambulances, a bomb squad, the SWAT team," Penfield said. "It was madness."

All public transportation and most streets were closed off ,so people were forced to walk to get out of the city. After finding his mom, they headed immediately for their hotel in Cambridge, which was over four miles away.

In the hotel, Penfield watched the news and President Barack Obama address the nation.

Penfield said he is ready to leave Boston and will return to UP on Wednesday. He's thankful to be out of the area but not deterred from returning to Boston or to running.

"Generally people are good, but there's a few crappy people out there who try to ruin everything," Penfield said. "You can't just stop your life because of what they do."