Updated: Summit Marathon Runner: “Safe and Finished 15 Minutes Before the Bomb”

Updated April 16 at 9:30 p.m. to include that Stephen Thomas did not attend the marathon this year.

Updated April 16 at 3:30 p.m. to include information on runner Megan Schnall.

Elizabeth Haines, 42, finished the Boston Marathon fifteen minutes before the two explosions went off at the finish line of the marathon at around 2:50 p.m. on April 15. 

On Monday at 9:45 p.m., Haines told Patch they had just gotten their car back and were heading back to Summit after Copley Square was evacuated this afternoon.

Haines said that the scene was crazy and chaotic.

“So many of us run for charity to extend, support, and enhance life,” she expressed. “I just don't get this senselessness.”

According to the individual race times, Haines finished at 2:11 p.m. with a gun time of 3:45:27.

Also, runner Megan Schnall, 35, of Summit reached out to Patch on April 16 and said she is safe.

Schnall finished the race about an hour before the explosions and was at a restaurant two blocks away when the first explosion sounded. She returned to Summit on Monday evening.

According to the individual race times, Schnall finished the race at 1:58:54 p.m with a gun time of 3:35:05.

The Central Jersey Road Runners reported that runner Thomas Brand was also safe following the explosions.  

Stephen Thomas was registered for the marathon, but was not able to attend this year.

"It was a truly terrible thing to happen in such a great event," he expressed. 

One other runner from Summit participated in the marathon, Meaghan O'Neill. She was last clocked reaching the 40K mark at 2:51 p.m. If you have any information, email Nicole.Bitette@patch.com.

For a previous article on the Summit runners who participated, click here.