Amid the sea of ponchos and costumes at the 44th annual The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on Thursday were people wearing “Boston Strong.”
Laurie Burnham wore a Boston Strong shirt as she made her way to the start line. She went to college in Boston and considers that place her first home.
“The events were traumatic,” Burnham said. “I am wearing the shirt to remember the events and to show support for the running community.”
Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev allegedly planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The bombs killed three and injured more than 260 people. Dzhokhar, 19, was captured. Tamerlan, 26, was killed during a shootout with police April 19.
Some people who ran the Peachtree Road Race also ran the Boston Marathon. Malcolm Campbell had returned to his room before the bombs went off and showered after a long race, in which he finished fifth in his age group.
Campbell runs for the Atlanta Track Club and is the club’s master’s team coordinator. His Boston hotel was two blocks from the finish line.
“I saw what happened on the television, and I ran down the street to see if I could help. The police had cordoned off the area, so there was nothing I could do,” said Campbell, 42, of Marietta.
“They shut the whole city down,” he said. “We were shut in our hotel for a few hours.”
Campbell said the tragedy of the events didn’t fully hit him until he got home.
“It didn’t shake me up at the time because it was unreal,” he said. “But when I got home, people told me they were glad I was still alive. I thought, ‘Wow.’”
He ran the Peachtree Road Race as the top-seeded master’s runner. He said he won’t let the tragic events in Boston keep him down.
“I will run and continue to run,” Campbell said. “It isn’t going to change anything I do.”
To show solidarity with the runners at the Boston Marathon, the Atlanta Track Club gave $26,200 to the Boston Athletic Association for them to present to the One Fund, a foundation created to assist victims of the attacks.
“Our hearts are still with the victims,” said Tracey Russell, the executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, who was at the marathon that day.
At the start of Thursday’s race there was a moment of silence to remember those who were affected by the attack.
Mike Beaudreau, of Lawrenceville, had finished the Boston Marathon and was heading back toward the finish line to cheer for other runners when he turned to walk in the other direction because he wanted to get back to his hotel. As he headed toward the subway he heard a loud boom that sounded “like a cannon.”
As he lined up for the Peachtree Road Race he said he would think about the victims.
“Before every race I do a prayer,” Beaudreau said. “I will think about those who were injured. People will always remember it.”
