Mission Viejo Runner: Boston Marathon 'Like 9/11 All Over Again'

A Mission Viejo runner was less than a block from the finish line when two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing three and injuring more than 175.

Click here for the latest on the Boston Marathon explosions.

"I thought it was a gunshot," said Sally Boles, who was in her 13th-floor hotel room at Boston Marriott Copley Place at the time. She didn't realize it was a bomb until about five minutes later when a friend called her from Southern California.

Boles was one of seven Mission Viejo residents listed as Boston Marathon participants. Mission Viejo Patch was able to confirm that runner Brent Monte was also OK following the explosions.

• Scroll down for a complete list of Mission Viejo runners involved in the marathon.

"It's crazy," Boles said of the scene following the explosions. "There are 20 ambulances outside our hotel room. There are policemen everywhere. At first they were shooing everyone from the finish line. Now (at 1:30 p.m. PST) there are no spectators left."

Men dressed in fatigues are on the scene inside black SUVs, she said. Police with dogs are combing the area.

"It's kind of like 9/11 all over again," Boles said.

Before the blasts, the avid runner had been enjoying the race. She chugged a beer at mile 11 and high-fived more than 1,000 people, she said.

"It was simply an amazing day until I got that phone call," she said.

Julie Monte knew her husband had finished the race less than 20 minutes before the bombs went off. But she didn't stop worrying until she heard from him.

"That was a surreal few minutes," she said. "Until I found out he was OK it was a little frightening."

According to the Boston Athletic Association site, these Mission Viejo entrants finished before the blasts:

• Sally Boles, age 44, 3 hours, 56 minutes, 32 seconds
• Linda Drosky, age 49, 3 hours, 51 minutes, 23 seconds
• Patricia Fasola, age 52, 3 hours, 29 minutes, 51 seconds
• Fernando Gonzalez, age 46, 3 hours, 34 minutes, 41 seconds
• Brent Monte, age 48, 4 hours, 50 seconds

Mission Viejo runners Pam Fecher and Hillary Zator were marked as participants in the race, but their running times were not listed in the official Boston Marathon website. That may mean they were diverted after the explosions or didn't show up for the race.