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After finishing a 26.2-mile race, many runners are met with relief and overwhelming excitement. However, this year’s Boston Marathon was different for many runners, including several Loyola students and alumni.

Two bomb explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon left three dead and more than 170 injured Monday, April 15, according to an FBI spokesperson.

The bombs, both placed about 50 yards apart, exploded at about 2:50 p.m. EST, almost four hours into the race. Dismembered limbs, blood and shattered glass filled the streets, according to several news reports.

Not long after the initial explosions, the AP reported that a senior intelligence officer said two other bombs were found near the end of the course, but they did not explode. However, it has since been disputed that these bombs were found.

“I was just running past that not too long ago, and so were my friends and the people I ran with,” said Tony Catalano, a 2011 Loyola alum and former USGA president. “I’m very grateful that I was able to finish when I did and leave.”

Catalano finished the marathon in 3:07, passing the finish line at about 1 p.m. After waiting for his friend to finish the race, Catalano said he walked about four to six blocks back to the Boston International Hostel, where he was staying.

He said he may have heard the explosions, but was disoriented after the race and did not think much about the sounds.

“I wasn’t really paying attention; you’re limping along and you’re out of the zone,” said Catalano, who earned degrees in economics and political science from Loyola. “You’re not really focusing on explosions going on.”

However, when Catalano arrived at the hostel, he said his grandmother called, asking if he was OK and if he heard the explosions. He immediately searched for the bomb blasts online and realized that they may have been the sounds he heard earlier.

“I thought it was a sick act of terror,” Catalano said. “The streets were packed; there was people everywhere.”

He said the mood completely changed after the explosions.

“The whole marathon gives me shivers. It’s amazing that I finished, but at the same time, there’s this horrible thought in the back of my mind that’s associated with my first time [running in] the Boston Marathon.”

According to Dean of Students Jane Neufeld, the university is waiting to issue a statement to the Loyola community about the explosions until they get a list of the victims and until they find out more about the situation.

“We hope that people would keep [those affected by the tragedy] in their prayers, but we don’t have a playbook for this,” Neufeld said. “Until we find out more about the situation, we’ll wait to send an email out that’s all encompassing … I think we need the dust to settle and figure out what’s going on.”

However, Neufeld said she is happy to help those students who ran in the marathon.

“Whatever they need in terms of support from us, we’ll do, [even] if that means contacting their instructors,” Neufeld said.

Junior Andrea Larson, 21, who also ran in the marathon, finished her race at about 2 p.m. and left the course at 2:45 p.m., just minutes before the bombs exploded. Although she did not hear the bombs, she said she learned about them on the news after returning to her hotel in Cambridge, about 20 minutes from the finish line of the marathon.

“It definitely is scary finishing and knowing that could potentially be me at the finish line,” said Larson, who is a member of the Loyola Running Club.

Before the race, Larson said everyone was in a good mood and excited for the race. However, like Catalano said, Larson also felt that the explosions changed the atmosphere of the race.

“The marathon is a time for everyone who has a similar hobby to get together and compete with each other, and something like that is traumatizing and really tarnishes the overall ambience and feeling [of the race],” said Larson, a marketing and ad/PR double major.

While 27,000 people ran in the marathon, hundreds more spectated, since Monday was Patriots’ Day in Boston, a holiday that closes many schools and offices. Tourists, college students, friends and family members lined the course and cheered as participants ran by.

“The first thing I saw was the mass chaos after the explosions, and to have that happen to the people watching and cheering on their loved ones [is terrible],” said senior math major Andy Beck, 22.

Beck finished the race in 3:06 and arrived at the finish line at about 1:05 p.m., greeted by fans cheering for him and others.

Beck did not hear the explosions, though, since he had already returned to the Hilton Boston Logan Airport where he was staying, and was sleeping when the bombs detonated.

Monday evening, he said Boston Police were asking people not to use their phones.

“The newscasters announced that we should avoid using them due to both limited bandwidth in the system and the potential triggering of a device,” said Beck, who is also a member of the Loyola Running Club.

Not only were runners affected by the explosions at the marathon, but Loyola students whose friends and family live in Boston have also been affected.

Junior Roselle Mangilog, 21, is from Boston and her parents, brother and friends still live in the city. While her family was out of town, many of her friends watched the race and partook in the Patriots’ Day festivities.

“I felt really helpless watching it on TV and to see places where I hang out; I have gotten ice cream at one of the places that got blown up,” said Mangilog, a nursing major. “I’m just so far away that I can’t do anything about it; it’s just really sad to see that happening to your home.”

Many of Mangilog’s friends attend universities in the Boston area and were at the marathon when the bombs exploded, although they were not near the explosions and did not hear them.

“It was definitely chaotic trying to locate all of my friends, especially because the phone lines were down,” Mangilog said. “I was just glad that within two hours of the bombings, I was able to get in contact with my friends.”

Mangilog’s friends told her that shortly after the bombings they were told to go inside their dorms and tourists were told to go into hotels. They said buildings were on lockdown and the trains were shut down.

Despite the chaos, Mangilog said she is happy with the way many people responded to help the victims.

“Even marathon runners turned around to go back to help people. You can see the humanity that’s still there,” she said.