2 teachers and a junior recount experiences at Boston Marathon bombing

Minutes after finishing the Boston Marathon on April 15, science teacher Kelly Nicholson heard a loud explosion and saw a large cloud of smoke about a block away. Nicholson, still exhausted from finishing the 26-mile race, frantically tried to find her husband, who was waiting for her near to the finish line.

“I crossed the finish line when the official time lapse clock read 4:03, and the first bomb blew at 4:09, so I was a block down,” Nicholson said. “I had just gotten my medal and I felt a thud. It was like [my] whole body vibrated.”

At first, many thought the sound had been a cannon or perhaps a generator. After a second bomb went off, however, people began to panic.

Nicholson, who was one of two Saratoga High teachers running the race along with art teacher Diana Vanry, could not get through to her husband because all cell phones and transportation had been shut down. Nicholson said she saw many examples of outstanding charity in the wake of the disaster, such as a woman offering food, water, warmth and the use of a phone to a complete stranger.

“I guess that all through the crowds people that lived in Boston were inviting people over to their houses,” Nicholson said. “It was amazing how nice people were.”

Vanry, who finished the marathon about 10 minutes before the bombs went off, said she was able to find her kids in the family meeting area before the explosions.

“It was pretty traumatic, more for my kids because they [had been] standing in the location of the first bomb,” Vanry said. Her family left that spot because she had finished the race.

 Junior Kayla Berlinberg was in town at the time to visit colleges and was returning from lunch in Cambridge when she saw the commotion.

“We saw a lot of people running in our direction, and they were crying and upset and calling home. We had heard from other people about what had happened,” Berlinberg said. “We were getting all of the news reports and there were lots of cameras everywhere and police and it was very hectic.”

Berlinberg said the city was in a panic after the bombs went off.

“Right away the city kind of shut down, streets were boarded off, there were helicopters everywhere and police cars driving all around,” Berlinberg said. “The Coast Guard had come out and all the police departments from not only the city, but also the state were around.”

Vanry said she could see SWAT teams from her hotel across the street from the Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It was surreal … we heard all the ambulances going by and we saw all of the SWAT teams going into the city,” Vanry said. “We were seeing on the news that there were potentially bombs located in other parts of the city, and one of them was possibly at the hospital. We were asked to stay in our hotel room and not go out on the street.” 

Despite the chaos in the city, Berlinberg said the Boston airport was surprisingly calm when she flew home.

“I left the Tuesday after the bombing, and it was pretty quiet. Surprisingly the security lines were even shorter than usual,” she said. “There did happen to be cops all around, though.”

Now that suspects have been taken into custody, things have calmed down for both Nicholson and Berlinberg. Nicholson said the experience helped her realize what was important to her.

“I am slower to get irritated by my husband, because I realized in the minute when the bomb blew [that] he was supposed to be at the finish line,” Nicholson said. “Those few seconds [when] I thought something might have happened to him are fresh in my memory. Little things don’t matter so much anymore.”

Berlinberg said it was inspiring to see the way the Boston community came together to deal with the crisis.

“In the area I was around, it was pretty freaky, but it was very cool to see the way that everyone responded as a community,” Berlinberg said.  “It was very eye-opening, but it was humbling as well, to see everything you have and just to feel lucky.” 

Vanry said that the tragedy only made her want to run in another marathon.

“I think what bothered me was that was meant to be a really positive, great experience, and it ended up in tragedy, and that was hard,” she said. “But that makes me want to do another marathon soon, and I definitely want to go back next year and run again.”

Nicholson said that despite the bombings, she also still plans to participate in the marathon next year.

“I’m glad we got the bad guy. I was there the whole week, so I was there when the city was shut down,” Nicholson said. “I’m definitely going back next year, just to show them that good trumps evil every time.”