Easton Marathon Runner: 'God Was With Me'

Just one half mile from finishing his first Boston Marathon, 25.7 miles into a 26.2 mile trek, Bobby O'Donnell III of Easton was stopped short of finishing, like so many other runners on Monday afternoon.

The 117th running of the Boston Marathon came to a halt at 2:50 p.m. April 15 when two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least three and injuring well over 100 more, according to CBS Boston. 

Following the explosions, police and race officials soon started stopping the runners, O'Donnell, a 2012 graduate of Oliver Ames, and a 19-year-old freshman at St. Anslem College, said.

"I was [half a mile] away from finishing when the explosion happened and my family was in the grandstands at the finish line and saw and felt the blast," he recalled. 

Initially confused as to what was going on, O'Donnell said at first it "looked like a car accident" to him and officials were clearing the street, but then after talking with spectators he found out what had happened just a half mile ahead on Boylston St. 

Fearing another attack or explosion, O'Donnell said he "wanted to get out of there."

He said he wasn't running with his cellphone and cell reception was limited to begin with following the explosions, but he was able to borrow a phone and get in touch with his family by sending his girlfriend a text.

Once O'Donnell and the other runners realized what had happened, "The first thing that went through my mind was my family," he said. 

His father, Bob O'Donnell, Jr., a captain with the Stoughton Fire Department, was at the finish line. Captain O'Donnell quickly sprung into action, starting to help victims, his son said. 

O'Donnell said his father treated about a dozen people, saw two people already deceased, and saw limbs amidst the debris in what has been described as a horrifying scene. 

Eventually, O'Donnell and his family, all safe, met near Fenway Park.

O'Donnell said he strained his hip flexor a few weeks ago, slowing his pace down a bit Monday afternoon. It was a "lucky injury," he said, realizing he may have been that much closer to where the explosion was if he was running even two minutes faster. 

"God was with me today," O'Donnell said.