Locals Safe At Boston Marathon; North Escambia Pastor Recounts Experience

April 16, 2013

Rusty Branch, pastor of the Dogwood Park Baptist Church on Highway 97, had finished the Boston Marathon Monday in a respectable time just under three hours.

He had pickup up his medal, joined wife Melanie and headed toward the airport on the train. It had been a good run, a good day.

But then the news starting coming in. An explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. By the time they reached the airport, the extent of Boston’s nightmare was becoming more apparent, with deaths and scores of injuries reported.

“It was Patriots Day, a holiday, in Boston,” Branch said from the Boston Airport. “At the start of the race, there were crowds everywhere, college kids out of the day. All the way to the finish line, it was packed with people.  The number of people at the finish line really concerned me about the explosions. I’m surprised there were not more hurt.”

“I remember seeing this person wearing a t-shirt before the race started. It said ‘I had open heart surgery 10 months ago’, and there was one that said ‘I Beat Cancer’. These are the people that never got to finish the race; they were all turned away, the race was over, after the explosions. For these people, the marathon was celebration of life the never got to finish.

“Things could have been much worse for us. We were blessed,” he said.

Security at the airport was much higher Monday afternoon for the return trip, he said, with a no-fly zone over a portion of Boston delaying flights because of problems with incoming planes. But despite the delays, Branch and his wife were back in Pensacola by 10:30 Monday night.

Branch was among about a dozen North Escambia area residents that ran the Boston Marathon Monday. The local runners included Pensacola city councilman Brian Spencer and  several other people with Paul Epstein, owner of Running Wild in Pensacola.

Mark Rice, administrator of the Atmore Vision Center, also ran today’s Boston Marathon and has checked in with friends and family.

Matt Dobson of Jay, who frequently runs the Boston Marathon, did not participate this year. He qualified and was registered, but chose not to participate due to schedule conflicts and a lack of long runs. In 2004, Dobson finished the Boston Marathon 49th overall as the 16th fastest American.

The following North Escambia/Pensacola area runners were reportedly at the Boston Marathon and have been reported safe:

  • Heather Asmar, Pensacola Beach
  • Russell “Rusty” Branch, Cantonment
  • Nicholas Challen, Milton
  • Kristen Corderman, Niceville
  • Cherie Epstein, Pensacola
  • Paul Epstein, Pensacola
  • Steve Harris, Pensacola
  • Evan Malone, Gulf Breeze
  • Sarah Pritchard, Pensacola
  • Stephanie Rafferty, Pensacola
  • Mark Rice, Atmore
  • Brian Spencer, Pensacola

Pictured top: The “Running Wild” group from Pensacola running  the Boston Marathon today are reportedly safe, according to the business. Rusty Branch, pastor of the Dogwood Baptist Church, is on the far right in the photo. They are shown in a photo this morning prior to the race.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News