Pearl River Runner Heard Blasts, Saw Smoke Rise

Wojciech Cieszkowski of Pearl River ran the Boston Marathon in 3:18.44, so he had just returned to his room in the Westin Hotel when two bombs went off near the finish line.

"We got back to the hotel and it happened. We heard two blasts," Cieszkowski said. "We are up on the 35th floor. We looked out the window and we could see both areas where the bombs went off. We saw the smoke rise. It was pretty upsetting." 

Cieszkowski also saw the quick reaction by medical personnel set up at a tent nearby to treat runners fatigued from the race. 

"I saw people run out with stretchers and wheelchairs where the blasts went off," Cieszkowski said. "They were there right away."

Cieszkowski is a member of the Rockland Road Runners. He said the other members of the club began checking in by text message fairly quickly. Matthew Goldstein, Alan Young, Michael Nusblat and Steven Joseph had all finished well ahead of the explosions.

"We met before the race and ran," Cieszkowski said. "We heard back from all the other runners and everyone is okay. No one was involved in a bad way.

"Then we heard a third blast maybe a half hour later, but they said the police did a controlled explosion. I'm not sure what kind of security there was, but this was right at the finish line. They'll figure it out. It's pretty upsetting.

He looked out the window as he spoke with Patch a little after 6 p.m. Monday, saying that the entire area is locked down. 

"I see police everywhere," Cieszkowski said. "I see police with dogs, two guys with those armored outfits to search for bombs. They just went in the building where the glass was blown off."

Jamie Kempton of the Rockland Road Runners, who was not in Boston, said Monday night that he heard from three more memmbers of the club who completed the Boston Marathon -- Patrick Parietti of Nyack and Bernard and Josephine Patten of Orangeburg. He said all three were fine. 

As Police in Boston continue to investigate the explosions, people in Rockland County are still reaching out to family members and friends who ran the race to see if they are ok. 

As police in Boston investigate this afternoon's explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and nearby, members of the marathon and racing communities in Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties are reaching out to friends who ran the race to check that they are OK.

The situation in Boston is still chaotic and cell phone service has been impacted so difficulty continues in reaching people.

Click here for updates on the situation in Boston.

Here's a list of runners from local communities who were scheduled to be in today's Boston Marathon: