By Maddie Sattler, News Staff
Monday morning started off as a celebration of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon, but before the race was over the day took a complete 180 degree turn. Northeastern students running the marathon as part of restaurant B. Good’s charity initiative, the “Burger Brigade,” turned from cheerful participants to witnesses of the horrific events that unfolded.
“I was on my way to Boylston, so probably like a half mile away from the finish line and people turned around and were like, ‘Yeah the race is over you gotta stop,’” sophomore biology major Seth Gordon said.
Gordon was part of the Burger Brigade, which raised money through the marathon. The crew included six Northeastern students, all of whom vowed to run the race while wearing a burger suit.
At about 2:50 p.m., two explosives went off near the finish line causing spectators to scramble, runners to halt their progress and sending over 100 people to area hospitals.
Although most of the runners had finished the race, many who were running for charity or banditing the 26.2 miles (running without an official bib) were still on the course. A lot of these runners were close to finishing or had just crossed the line when the bombs exploded.
Because the Brigaders did not have official numbers, their starting time was after the final wave had gone around 11 a.m. So for most of them, their finishing time was right around the time of the explosions.
Gordon is an avid runner and also a member of Northeastern’s club running team. Boston was his third marathon – one he said he will never forget.
He said he was close to the finish line when the course became littered with people.
“I was just like ‘get out of my way, I’m trying to finish’ and then some lady who was crying turned around and starts telling everyone that the race was over and we needed to stop here,” Gordon said. “We all figured out that bombs were going off at the finish line so we had to stop, but by then there were like 5,000 people stuck.”
Gordon made his way back to B. Good where the non-finishing burgers met up.
The group did its best to get the word out that the brigade and its members were okay.
Another Brigader was recent Northeastern graduate and Brookline native Sean Marden. Marden, a former member of the club running team, earned a biology degree from Northeastern in December.
He had just crossed the finish line when the first explosion went off.
“It was probably four or five minutes before the first explosion. I had finished and was in sort of the finishers’ corral area,” Marden said. “[Smoke] filled the streets and was rising up above the finishing banner and then we were kind of confused and then the second one went off.
“There were officers that were running at us to try to get to the scene, so they came charging through and that was the first sign I had that something bad had happened,” Marden added.
Marden was the fifth member of the Brigade to finish the race and the last one able to cross the line. Volunteers and race officials herded the runners down the finishing chute and away from the explosions.
He was able to reunite with his family in a timely manner and no one was injured.
No Brigaders were physically injured, although the emotional damage will take its toll.
The group was able to raise about $12,000 which will be used to help the Boston community in whatever way B. Good deems to be the best way possible.
On Wednesday, members of the Burger Brigade and the Northeastern club running team came together and ran an emotional three miles in honor of those affected by the tragedy. The group wore blue and yellow, this year’s marathon colors, and held signs saying “Run for Boston” featuring Northeastern’s signature red and black “N”.
For all of those involved, it was another run they will never forget, but not for the reasons they anticipated when they donned their burger suits Monday morning.
