Doug Williams of Hays had a ticket for an early flight out of Boston this morning. He and others from Ellis County ran in Monday’s Boston Marathon.

Two bombs ripped through the crowd at the finish line of the Marathon, killing three people, maiming others and injuring more than 100.  Williams had just finished the race. “I was waiting for Marian Lindberg (of Ellis also competing) and she had just finished the race.

“We were walking away from the finish area, about a block down from there and I felt the explosion, turned and looked back and saw the white smoke. Everybody was very confused,” Williams told Eagle News.
“When the second explosion occurred, there was a fair amount of panic and concern and we continued to leave the finish line area.

“We had moved to an area away from the staging area where they have drinks and things for the runners who have finished the race.

“We were running independent. We are with the Hays Area Roadrunners. We qualified for the Boston Marathon and ran it last year and came back this year. This is the very last thing any of us thought would ever happen.”

Williams and Scott Manhart of Hays and Marian Lindberg of Ellis were all in Boston to compete in Monday’s race.