Tragedy sends chills to former participant

Among those extremely shocked with the news of the Boston Marathon bombing are those who have once joined the prestigious running event.

This is how Cebuana Millette Chiongbian felt when she first heard of the news about the bombs that blew up seconds apart at the finish line of one of the world’s most storied races that left three dead and more than 140 wounded.

Chiongbian ran and finished the same race in 2011.

“All I could think of was that when I joined that race, my three kids—Justin, Yuan and Savvi—were all at the finish line,” Chiongbian said. At that time, Justin was 12, Yuan was 11 and Savvi was only four years old.

What made the news more spine-tingling for her was the fact that among the fatalities of yesterday’s bombing was an eight-year-old kid.

Chiongbian watched the kickoff of the marathon on TV last night. She learned about the bombing about 5 a.m. yesterday morning upon reading her email.

“I have always been open about joining the race again,” she said. “For sure it will never be the same.” Chiongbian said that if she was going to run another Boston Marathon, she will not be bringing any of her kids.

“That finish line is so dramatic with that clock there just a few meters. I even have a photo with that clock there. It is so tragic for those who had to be amputated,” Chiongbian said. “This is so sad for the running community.”

She added that those who aspire to run the Boston Marathon, first timers or repeaters, will now question the safety not only of the Boston Marathon but also of the other marathons like those in London and New York. Those who will run it will have this haunting thought because the target for this is the public.

She said that every runner aspires to run the Boston Marathon because it is tough to qualify for the race. Qualifying does not even mean that you will get an automatic entry since your qualifying time will be ranked against the others who have also qualified.

“I have so much respect for that course. I trained hard for it and researched the course. I remember everything in that finish line, the arc, the tape, the clock,” Chiongbian said.

The Boston Marathon is also very memorable for Chiongbian because she managed to finish even with an injured hip bone.

At that time, she was due for a hip bone replacement but she decided to continue and see until where her ailing hip would take her. She said she had to stop four times to rest before actually finishing the race.

“But now it is scary, especially when I picture how my three kids were at the finish line,” Chiongbian said.