Rockville Runner in Boston: Attack on Marathon 'Sickening'

About 50 members of the Montgomery County Road Runners Club who participated in today’s Boston Marathon are believed to be safe after twin explosions rocked the packed event just before 3 p.m.

Members of the running group were texting, emailing and taking to the group’s Facebook page Monday afternoon to let loved ones know they were safe, president Karen Kincer told Patch.

“We have aggressively been trying to check in with all club members we know are up there and so far the initial word everyone seems to be okay,” Kincer said.

Rockville resident Dan DiFonzo, a member of the Montgomery County Road Runners Club, finished the race at 1:13 this afternoon. He was running his ninth consecutive Boston marathon with a group of about 50 from the Montgomery County Road Runners Club, and several county runners were in a bar about a block away when the explosions occurred, DiFonzo told Patch, speaking from his cell phone in Boston.

“This is just a spectacular day. This is the Superbowl of our sport. People train their entire lives to participate in the Boston Marathon and some spend their entire careers just trying to qualify,” DiFonzo told Patch, “so to have something like this happen is just sickening. “

DiFonzo said several people in his group reported hearing loud “booms” and word quickly spread through the bar that there had been explosions.

“There’s a panic going on. I don’t think people really know what’s happening – they’re afraid to be in groups. Our bar cleared out pretty quickly, I think people wanted to get back to their hotels and get away from the center of the center of the city where the finish line is.”

The incident was “hard to process,” DiFonzo said.

Bethesda resident and Road Runners member Trevor Myers posted on the Facebook page that his wife, Andrea, was near the explosion when it occurred.

"Andrea Keane-myers was 500 feet away from the explosion when it happened...her finish time was right around 4:10," the post read. "I am assuming that all who were faster are fine...beyond that I have no more data...the wave starts make it harder to track times exactly."

Kincer confirmed that Keane-Myers had been close to the explosion and was safe.

"I have heard she was pretty shaken up, but fine," Kincer said.