Local Boston Marathon Runners Join Run for Boston

Nick Pinto’s Boston Marathon medal was around his neck and he was waiting for his friends in the John Hancock tent. He heard what he thought was a cannon going off to celebrate Patriot’s Day.

“I saw the second explosion. I knew it was not a celebration,” the Arlington Heights man said.

He realized something was very wrong. Pinto began searching for his friends. He saw emergency workers rushing toward the area where the bomb went off.  

A week later, the sounds and sights of that Monday afternoon in Boston were as vivid as ever.

Pinto wore the same Boston Marathon shirt he wore last week. But the medal is put away, on display in his home.

“I’m never going to wear that medal,” he said. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Pinto was among the 200 hundred people who gathered Monday night to Run for Boston in downtown Arlington Heights. The event was sponsored by Runners High ‘n Tri in honor of those injured and killed on April 15.

Arlington Heights and Palatine residents who ran in the 2013 Boston Marathon came to Monday’s run, wanting to show their support for all the victims.

They each came home with different stories, experiences and memories.

Kelly Causero was one block north of the finish line. She was going to get her gear and to meet her family. Everyone was standing together, taking pictures when they heard the first explosion.

No one really knew what was happening, she said. Then the second explosion happened.

“The whole city went silent,” Causero said.

Causero thinks about how so many things could’ve been different. Her family could’ve been standing in the grandstand near the finish line. She could’ve finished earlier and crossed the finish line as the bombs exploded.

The experience has affected her in different ways. She feels very thankful, but also has noticed any loud noise startles her.

What Mike Wolfe will take away from the experience is how much people helped each other. Boston residents offered cell phones and a place to stay, he said.

People here at home have been asking Wolfe if he finished and where has he that afternoon. Wolfe finished at 3:59:40, about four minutes before the explosion.

Mother and son Peggy and Matt Dettloft, of Palatine, were there too. Matt had finished with family friend Diana Starcevich. Peggy started in the third leg so she was still running when the chaos started.

It was hours before Matt heard from his mom. A text from an unlisted number helped bring the group together back together.

“I just wanted to find him,” Peggy said of her son. “I felt like I was in a movie.”

It took another six hours to get out of the area and back to the hotel. The three were horrified to watch the news coverage and learn of those who were injured and killed.

Peggy, Matt and Starcevich participated in the Run for Boston in downtown Arlington Heights. Like the other runners, the three would like to go back to run the Boston Marathon.

“I would like to do it and finish,” Peggy said.