Sask. marathon runners return home from Boston

REGINA – One day after the race of a lifetime turned into a nightmare, Saskatchewan runners are trickling home from the Boston Marathon.

Gerry and Diana Nagy returned Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m glad to be home,” said Gerry after getting off the airplane at Regina International Airport.

The Weyburn couple now begin the task of making sense of what happened after two bombs exploded at the finish line of the famous race.

They could not find each other after the explosions and both wandered around for several hours looking for the other. Finally, Diana made it to the condo they were staying in and used a neighbour’s cell phone to let Gerry know she was safe.

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“You’re still having the thoughts of what if?” explained Gerry. “What if either one of us would have been in that location (where the bombs detonated)?”

As they left, Boston was a city under lockdown. The couple saw police with guns and everyone was questioned at the airport.

“They were talking to all the marathoners, to see if they had photos or any information at all, where they were when the bombs went off,” said Diana.

The whole incident puts everything in perspective, said Gerry.

“We’ve been married for 24 years, and just the thought of not having her wouldn’t be good, and I was starting to think that,” he explained.

Organizers of Regina’s Queen City Marathon set for September are now wondering if more needs to be done to make sure participants, spectators and volunteers are kept safe.

“On an event that’s held over 42 km of open road way, we have to ask ourselves, what can we do?” said volunteer race director Doug Russell, “And we will take the steps that we can do.”

Russel says organizers will meet with Regina Police to find out what might need to be done. Ironically, the police service just so happens to be organizing their own event, a half marathon, in two weeks. Spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich, who coincidently ran the Boston Marathon in 2008, says to unnecessarily worry about security for the event is not productive.

“We’ll think about it, we’ll talk about it,” she said. “We’ll have a reasonable discussion about it, but I don’t think there’s any undo cause for alarm.”