Shaker Heights Man Optimistic After Witnessing Boston Marathon Bombing

Marty McPeak knew something was seriously wrong when officials stopped runners mid-race at the Boston Marathon last Monday.

“I know in past races, someone could have died in the road, and they would have dealt with it respectfully, but the wouldn’t have stopped the race,” McPeak, a semi-retired Shaker Heights accountant, said.

“I knew something 9-11-ish was going on.”

His insticts were right: two bombs had been detonated at the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring over 170 more.

One suspect died Thursday in a shoot-out with police and the other, a 19-year-old man, was later found with a self-inflicted bullet wound hiding in a suburban home’s boat outside Boston.

McPeak estimates he covered about 30 miles that day: he was stopped about half a mile short of the finish line and walked several more to his hotel, where his girlfriend was waiting — fortunately, she hadn’t watched the race from the finish line.

“We established a policy years ago that it doesn’t do any good to wait at the finish,” said 65-year-old McPeak, who has run the marathon three times now.

McPeak first walked the wrong way when he was heading to his hotel. Numb, he said, he had not accepted the weight of the day’s event yet.

“I wanted to believe it was an isolated [incident] and I wasn’t letting my mind go there,” he said.

Meanwhile, friends and family were texting his phone to query about his safety.

He stopped twice and asked for directions, and Bostonians invited him into their home to rest. The second couple he asked walked him the last two miles to his hotel.

With suspects identified one week later, McPeak said he's grateful for the speed with which athorities worked in the aftermath of the bombing.

“I feel a lot of anger but from my experience, walking back, there’s a lot more good people than crazy people like that. I couldn’t believe the how nice the people I ran into out there were, how great of a town that is,” he said.

Will he run the Boston Marathon again? “I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute,” he said.