Three Local Residents Confirmed Safe After Boston Marathon Blasts

All three of the local runners who participated Monday in the Boston Marathon have been confirmed safe, according to Fair Lawn-Saddle Brook Patch Facebook posts.

Scott Avidon, a music teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Meghan DeCarlo, a history teacher and track coach at Garfield High School who lives in Saddle Brook and Fair Lawn resident Marek Turzynski were not injured in Monday's bombing near the marathon's finish line.

"Meghan is fine," Kristyn Lyn posted on the Fair Lawn-Saddle Brook Patch Facebook page. "My husband works with her and they heard that she is okay."

Thomas Jefferson Vice Prinicipal Dominick Tarquinio said he had spoken to Avidon, who was safe and on his way home following the marathon.

"He told me he was inside of a medical tent receiving some medical assistance due to some pain he was experiencing in his leg [when the explosion happened]," Tarquinio said. "So he was in a good place, not too far from the finish line, as a matter of fact. He was pretty close to it."

Tarquinio said Avidon confirmed that he, his wife and his two children are fine, and although it took them a considerable amount of time to evacuate the area and get to their car, they're now on their way home.

Turzynski's son, Szymon, confirmed his father was safe on the Fair Lawn-Saddle Brook Patch Facebook page.

"My father is fine," he wrote. "He finished in 3 hours (about an hour before the explosion) and was already on a bus back to New York when the explosion occurred."

The New York Times is reporting that Monday's bombing near the finish line of the marathon has left at least two dead and dozens injured.

PBS reports 562 runners from New Jersey among the 23,000 in the race.

Fair Lawn councilwoman Lisa Swain, a former marathoner who belongs to the North Jersey Masters Track and Field Club, said she was heartbroken by the day's events.

"There's so many people from my club who were up running, themselves, their family," Swain said. "There's been a flurry of emails, everybody's checking in. Most people are OK, but we're still waiting to hear from some of the — apparently it was the slower [runners] that were in trouble. I'm waiting for more information, but I'm just devastated."

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