Windsor Locks Marathoner: “I Would Run Boston Again in a Heartbeat.”

On Monday, just as Jason Heath was ready to round the corner onto Hereford Street, less than one-mile from the finish line of the prestigious Boston Marathon, he stopped.   

Police officers were lined up across the route yelling to the runners. Two bombs had gone off at the finish line, they said.   

After running 25.6 miles, it was difficult to comprehend.  

"No one knew along the route. When we hit the 40K mark … people were still cheering us on,” Heath said Wednesday morning.     

“When they stopped us, people had no idea what was going on. Most people stopped, but some were still trying to go through the barricade, trying to run by them just wanting to finish. They just couldn’t comprehend what had happened,” he said.   

Heath had come to Boston to run for the second time. The day before he went to the Boston Red Sox game with family and prior to that had gone for a short run through the city’s North End. On Marathon Monday, he hadn’t planned on running with his older brother, but, as fate would have it, the men stayed together along the route.   

On Wednesday, Heath reflected upon the little stops they had made along the route, the bathroom breaks, the change in his brother’s running strategy after mile 13.  

“If we didn’t do that, if I had run ahead of him, I might have been going across that finish line at the time” when the bombs went off, he said. “I’m so thankful that we stayed together.”

Heath and the world would later learn that three people had been killed and up to 200 others injured in explosions.    
    
Chaos and the Kindness of Strangers

“The people of Boston were amazing, offering phones, water, food. This guy Rob gave my brother a cell phone so he could call his wife and my other brother who were at the finish line and saw the bombs go off,” Heath said.   

After that call, the next 30 minutes proved to be the longest of Heath’s life.      “It was very chaotic and the worst feeling of not knowing where my other brother (David Heath) and sister-in-law were. Most people have friends and family along the route and waiting to see them cross the finish line. I started to think, “Oh my God, this isn’t happening.’ That was the crazy part,” Heath said.

“We didn’t hear anything for about 30 minutes. The lines were saturated. We got a text 30 minutes later,” Heath said.   

While they waited to hear from their family and as they walked 3 more miles to meet them, Heath said he looked at the streets and people around him. He was partially in shock by what he was witnessing and, in some sense, in awe by the reaction of those around him.     

A church on one of the side streets had opened its doors and people were bringing whatever food and water they had outside for the runners. Residents were offering whatever comfort they could to those who were panicking about what had just happened and the location of their families and who were shivering from having just run nearly 26 miles.

“Some people were crying and yelling. (Residents) were coming out of houses and apartments, they knew we needed water. Someone brought two jugs and someone else brought out cups. People were offering their cell phones. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Heath said.  

The Unknown and Reuniting with Family  

Knowing that they were safe, the trek to rendezvous with his family proved difficult. Every time he turned down an alley or street toward Copley Square police turned him away. Heath said they just kept moving.     

After reuniting with his brother and sister-in-law near Copley, Heath said the four went into a nearby hotel, only to be evacuated soon after when ATF agents ran into the building. They didn’t know if another bomb was going to explode.

“We had no idea what was going to happen. I just thought, ‘I want to see my mom and dad again.’” Heath said.   

Heath was able to get messages out to extended family that they were safe. At around 9 p.m. Monday, when he retrieved his phone and bag from the finish line, he was able to let everyone else know his whereabouts and condition.   

“Guys – I am safe. Everything is still a little crazy. Thanks for your prayer,” is the message he posted on Facebook.   

Despite the chaos and disbelief of what happened, Heath said he’d run Boston again “in a heartbeat.”   

“I believe in Boston and I always will. I believe in the people in the city. For me, running Boston again would be the most amazing thing in my life … it would show the world and myself that I’m not to give up after a tragedy,” he said.