Middlefield Runner Completes Boston Marathon, Calls Explosions 'Frightening'

Chris Schulten was driving home to Middlefield after crossing the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon when his wife, Patch photographer Jennifer Schulten, called him to ask if he'd heard the news.

"I'm just about getting through Hartford in my car and the phone rings, and Jen tells me, 'Did you see what happened?'" Schulten said. "I had no idea."

Two bombs placed within two blocks of each other along the final stretch of the marathon had exploded just seconds apart, causing carnage on Patriots' Day in Boston.

Three people, including an eight-year-old, lost their lives after the bombs went off shortly before 3 p.m. and countless others were hospitalized.

Schulten, an experienced runner with 11 previous Boston Marathons under his belt, had finished the race in a time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, crossing the finish line on Boylston Street about two hours for the explosions. 

"I finished the race then I walked down the street, got on the T on the Green Line, which runs right under Boylston Street, and took the T back to my hotel in South Boston, got in my car and drove home," he said. "I was out of there pretty fast."

He called the apparent attack "frightening."

But even before the explosions and chaos, Schulten said the race was shaping up to be a memorable marathon.

"It was a beautiful afternoon. It was a perfect day and everyone was having a great race because the weather conditions were just ideal," he said. 

Schulten recalled sitting and talking with another runner, a complete stranger from Ethiopia, during the bus ride over to the starting line Monday morning. The two shared stories about their kids and politics, Schulten said.

Then, about two hours before the race he met another runner, a woman from Victoria, British Columbia.

"She was telling me about her kids and how she excited she is because it's her first Boston," he said.

"The thing that's shocking about this is that marathons are a celebration of goodwill. It's people from all over the world and everyone's so happy and excited to be there and for something like this to happen, you just can't imagine because it just doesn't happen," he continued.

Another local runner at the marathon, Brian Lentz of Durham, told Patch on Monday evening that he was about 50 yards from the finish line when the first explosion happened.

Lentz finished the race in 4 hours and 5 minutes. He was uninjured and was staying at a local hotel with his family.

Schulten went to the race alone this year but has been accompanied in the past by members of his family, including his parents who've both run the race and finished in just under five hours.

"I was just thanking God that my parents didn't do it this year because they would have been right in the middle of that," Schulten said.

As unnerving as the day was, Schulten said he plans to be back at the marathon next year.

"I'm definitely doing Boston next year. You have to go back to support the race and to be there and to show that whoever did this it's not going to change anything," he said.

Editor's Note: Another local runner, Thomas Desmarias of Middlefield, finished the marathon in 2 hours and 55 minutes. Patch was not able to reach him for comment.