'Too Many Close Calls' at Boston Marathon

Caleb Ginsberg’s team, Epic Man, crossed the finish line not long before the explosions went off at the Boston Marathon, killing and maiming many innocent bystanders and runners.

Ginsberg wasn’t running with them that day, and shudders to think of how close they were to the explosions. The tiniest difference in their running pace could have turned so many close calls into tragedies.

“Many people are lucky, there were lots of close calls,” he said. “I had so many friends and family involved in the race.”

The Amherst athlete had decided to attend a friend’s wedding on Sunday instead of participating in this year’s marathon run. He has run multiple marathons, including the Boston one last year, and spent months training with the intention of running this time around.

He was on his way to the finish line to greet his friends when the bombs went off.

Three of his teammates had finished thirty seconds earlier, but could not avoid the chaos and horror that followed. Luckily nobody on the team was injured in the explosion, or anyone else that Ginsberg knew.

Epic Man founder and Amherst resident, Seth Bradbury, as well as the two other Amherst runners, Tyler Bradbury and Forrest Butler were running that day.

They are fortunate, but they are still many people struggling from the aftermath of the attack. He joined his teammates in reflecting on what had happened after being so shaken by the attack.

“It was an eerie feeling,” said Ginsberg as he described the city’s emotional state on Tuesday. “The entire city was like the calm after the storm.”

This was not the Boston Marathon that he has remembered all of these years, not the usual time of celebration he was used to. Running is what motivated him to start his Motivating Miles Foundation, and the marathon was a special day to be filled with joy and accomplishment.

Like many runners, the attack has not hindered his resolve to take on the marathon in the future. It has given him more of a reason to run for what he believes in.

“I need to go run for my cause, with a little extra motivation for the victims.”