Seven Avon Runners Finished Boston Marathon Before Monday Explosions

Before the chaos and tragedy Monday after two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line, seven Avon runners had already completed the historic 26.2-mile race.

An eighth didn't finish. 

Avon resident Fernanda Jacobs, 45, posted on her personal Facebook page that she finished about 10 minutes before the explosion, coming in at 4:19:22, according to the results posted. 

But before the bombs went off, many runners described the sunny day in Boston as "perfect." The temperature was cooler than the 90-degree weather on race day last year. 

“It was a beautiful morning," Kimberly Mancini, 41, said. “People were really excited for it. It’s just so ironic that a day that just started off as a fun event ended up so tragically."

She trained with fellow Avon runner Maddy Yopchick, having done one "Boston" with her before. Yopchick finished in 3:31:32. The two stuck together for the first five miles or so in the second wave of runners and finished about 45 minutes before the explosions. By that point, they were in a Dunkin' Donuts near Boston Common with their families.  

“I did pretty well. I was definitely really happy with my time," Mancini said, finishing in 3:26:27, her second best time of four marathons she's done.

She said that she "felt good until mile 17," but that it got tough, as it usually does, during a series of hills stretching a few miles, including Heartbreak Hill. The hill ends around mile 21, she said.

“Right after I finished, I was really happy. I took everything in. It was a beautiful day. The spectators were amazing," Mancini said, noting that mostly spectators were hurt in in the explosions. 

Meanwhile, Avon runner Sarah Wallace came to Boston on a Hartford Track Club bus leaving from the Sears parking lot near Bishops Corner in West Hartford. She first joined the track club in 2010, the year she did her first Boston Marathon. This time she finished in 03:40:57, battling injuries. Avon resident Joel Lehman, who finished in 3:24:45, is also a track club member. Wallace met him Monday and sat with him on the bus ride up. 

The annual Hartford Track Club bus bringing competitors to the Boston Marathon was a primary incentive for Wallace to join. 

“I do it every year. It’s my fourth one," said Wallace, who is now preparing for Big Sur, an international marathon in California on April 28.

She got to Boston around 8 a.m. and met up with Jacobs, who she trains with sometimes. For the first time, she decided to strap her bag to her arm and run with her cell phone, so she took a picture near the start and posted it to Facebook.

“It was a nice day. The crowds were the same as ever. It’s the reason you run it," Wallace said. 

Wallace said that people living along the route host parties to watch and cheer on the runners. Many spectators hand out water, oranges, popsicles, bananas and other items to runners.

“If you need it they’ve got it and are handing it out," Wallace said. 

The runners, as many as 27,000, are grouped into three waves of up to 9,000 runners each. The waves are then broken into groupings of about 1,000 runners called corrals. Wallace was in the first corral of the second wave. The race starts at the Hopkinton town green. 

Fighting injuries, Wallace wasn't racing for a personal record Monday.

“My whole goal was to go out, have a good day and enjoy the day," Wallace said. 

And until the troubling news of the explosions, it was a good day for Wallace. Along the way, Wallace looked for her Avon friends Sue McGuire at the third mile and Sue Davies at mile 19, who both came to watch. She also gave high fives to a few smiling kids in the crowds.

As she ran, she noted mile markers like a house with a sign that said "short cut" and had an arrow pointing to a backyard, the Wellesley campus and a Wendy's restaurant near the halfway point.

Knowing the 26th mile of the race was dedicated to the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Wallace made a point of looking for the commemorative mile marker in tribute. 

“I don’t know anyone who could think about that day and not be sad," Wallace said. "I know gun enthusiasts who were sad about that day.”

But when she crossed the finish line in 03:40:57, she said. "I was just happy to be done." Amid thinking about her "aches and pains," she said she "desperately wanted a coke" to drink. 

Dickson Suit (2:59:11), 46, and Matthew A. Trivella (2:56:16), 29, were the fastest finishers of the Avon runners. 

Avon resident David W. Cowan, 50, also ran, but did not finish the race. His half-marathon time is market on the race website as 2:04:41.

The full results are available on the Boston Marathon website, searchable by town and athlete name.