Blasts miss runner by minutes

MANILA, Philippines - Seven minutes after crossing the finish line, Camilla Brooks was gathering her belongings when she heard a deafening explosion.

“I thought it was just a big transformer that blew up. Then came the smoke,” said Brooks, one of the Philippine participants in the Boston Marathon.

“I was getting to the area where the water and Gatorade were being given, the dressing area, to put my clothes on after running. I was getting my things when I heard the first explosion. It was a big bang,” she said.

The blasts killed three people and injured over 100 others.

Brooks, 34, is engaged to be married to Filipino Charlie Chua in New York.

“I will be married in about two weeks. I was told there’s a Filipino saying that people getting married are prone to get into accident or bad luck. I hope I did not bring this upon ourselves,” said Brooks.

She recounted to The STAR that she crossed the finish line at 4:02 p.m., or just seven minutes before the first explosion.

“When I was already in the family waiting area, that is about two blocks away from the first explosion, they told me they heard two explosions. But I heard only one, perhaps because I was too busy getting my things back,” Brooks said.

“Luckily, my fiancé and family were in the waiting area along with many other spectators. Everyone was quite excited. The finish line was crowded. A lot of people waiting for the runners like me,” she said.

“I even chatted awhile with another Filipino runner Efren who finished a few seconds earlier than me,” she said.

Brooks completed the 40-kilometer run with overall ranking of 16,380, out of 26,000 participants.

Although an American citizen, she was one of four runners representing the Philippines. The 10 other Filipino participants are US residents.

Brooks ran in the Tokyo marathon in 2012 and finished the race to qualify for the Boston Marathon this year.

“That’s why the Boston Marathon is in the bucket list for a lot of runners. It’s very prestigious and it’s the oldest marathon,” she said.

“The saddest part is something like this happened. Some of the runners were not able to finish the race because they were blocked by the organizers and brought to safer grounds. We saw on TV here at the hotel that three people were dead and many were injured,” she said.

Survivor recounts blasts

Triathlete Arlan Macasieb was among the small group of Filipinos that survived yesterday’s bombing of the Boston Marathon.

Macasieb, who won the bronze medal for the Philippines in the triathlon event of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, said he never thought something tragic would take place during the race.

“I don’t think anyone had an idea that anything like this could happen,” said the 36-year-old
Fil-Am in an interview posted on YouTube. He said he finished the race an hour before two explosions rocked the finish line area.

Macasieb, who is based in New Jersey, said he joined the race with six other members of the Filipino-American Triathlon Club, although he knew a handful other Filipinos were in the world’s biggest marathon.

“In my immediate circle there were seven of us but we knew some other friends, so there were more like 15 or 16 Filipinos in the race,” he said.

Macasieb said everyone among his group or those he knew were safe because most of them had crossed the finish line before the explosions took place. He said after the explosions, he texted those he knew to make sure they were fine.

He said since the bombs exploded on the sidewalks, the spectators were among those who were killed and severely wounded.

The Philippine embassy in Washington issued a press release saying that so far “no Filipinos were among the reported casualties in the deadly explosions” that killed three and close to 150 others wounded.

Consul General Mario de Leon said they checked the St. Elizabeth Medical Hospital, Boston University Medical, Massachusetts General and New England Medical Center following the incident and reported no Filipino casualty.

Around 27,000 runners from close to a hundred countries took part in the race, and in the video footages of the incident the Philippine flag was seen on the ground at the site of the first explosion.

Macasieb said since it’s an international event he cannot say that it was a direct attack on the United States.

“The Boston Marathon carries an international field so it’s like setting off a bomb in the Olympics. All the countries are there,” he said, adding that because of the length of the race it’s almost impossible to secure the entire route.

“It’s an attack on humanity, not just in the United States. I hope it doesn’t discourage people from running. It’s not an attack on running. We should not live in fear,” Macasieb said.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco did not comment on the incident while Philippine Sports Commission chairman Ricardo Garcia said he couldn’t believe what had happened.

“What is happening to this world? Even sports is not spared from this insanity,” said Garcia.

The Boston Athletic Association extended its deepest sympathies to all those who were affected by the incident.

“Today is a sad day for the City of Boston, for the running community and for all those who were here to enjoy the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. What was intended to be a day of joy and celebration quickly became a day in which running a marathon was of little importance,” said a BOA statement.

Macasieb said everybody remained shaken.

“There was widespread panic because it was very sudden,” said Macasieb, now wondering if his flight back to Manila today would push through.

“The question now is what happens next,” he said.

Nobody knows for sure.