Boston Marathoner Steve Weber reflects on tragic events of April 15

Steve Weber, a 2001 Hillsboro High School graduate, said he woke up feeling different – just one day after running in the 2013 Boston Marathon.

The tragedy of the two bombings at the finish line of the marathon took place after Weber had already finished the race, but what occurred when Weber was one block away in the runners' corral left him almost unable to express exactly how he was feeling.

"If I would have walked more, I would have been right there when it happened," Weber said. "I was a block and a half away, and it happened shortly after.

"I don't have words to explain how I feel."

Weber, 30, finished the marathon in 4:28:18, but what happened afterward will be with him for the rest of his life, as he qualified to be at the 117th Boston Marathon by his overall time run at the Columbus Marathon.

The Hillsboro native, who now resides in Columbus, went from the highest of highs of finishing the event, describing it as a "phenomenal feeling." Weber was injured in a bike wreck on Easter weekend, but he still ran the event with more than 25,000 other runners on Patriots Day April 15.

His high of finishing the race on the unusually warm April day as racers and the city celebrated with one another, giving high-fives and hugs, morphed from a self-described happy-go-lucky group, into a scene of chaos and confusion moments after he crossed the finish line.

"When the first bomb went off, from where I was standing, there was an echo feel," Weber said. "What stands out is there were thousands of people around me – the streets were covered with people – and, again, what stands out is how quiet it was after the bomb. It resembled a moment of silence.

"There wasn't a peep out of anyone for three seconds … a long three seconds. Then there was another boom, and that's when we were like 'what the heck is going on.'"

What the group of finishers first believed was construction sounds turned out to be tragedy as two explosions killed three people and injured more than 170 civilians in a matter of seconds, in what President Barack Obama called "an act of terror."

"Thinking it was at first some type of construction, after the second boom we were like 'no way,'" Weber said. "After that … a few minutes later, or what seemed like a few minutes, chaos happened. It felt like three to four minutes after the second boom when the chaos started.

"The worst part was the people looking for loved ones ... that was the most chaotic part."

The chaos near Weber included 20 to 30 unmarked police cars rushing to the scene at the finish line, the same finish line Weber passed less than an hour before.

"The unmarked cars were flying into the city; and later, places started shutting down and hotels locked their doors," Weber said. "I believe half the city shut down, for more of a (security) protocol."

Not only was Weber worried about his own safety, but the safety of his friends who were also running in the marathon.

"The night before, I had dinner with the guy who finished 10th in the marathon (Craig Leon), and we had friends wondering how 'Squirrel' was doing," Weber said of their friend. "I ran with people from OU (Ohio University), but everyone was OK."

When asked how he felt the day following surviving and being involved in such a tragic event, Weber paused and after a couple moments said, "I woke up with a different feeling than I did yesterday."

"What was weird was the sequence of events," he said. "I was racing with an injury, which forced me to walk some of the event, then I celebrated after I finished the event … then with everything that happened afterwards …. people are telling me 'thank God you are OK,' but I think about those who were at the finish line at the wrong time.

"What about those people? I think 'why not me?' It's tough, knowing there are people hurt or even killed. There are people who will have to have prosthetics, and thinking there are people losing their legs at the Boston Marathon … I just don't have the words to explain how I feel."

Weber said as of now, maybe one day he'd return to the event.

"Maybe one day, I'll return," he said. "I'd like to race when I'm not injured, but we will bounce back from this. It's a legitimate possibility I'll come back, but not anytime soon."