MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - On April 15, 2013 biomedical scientist from Boston Greg Fomovsky was running the Boston Marathon as part of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Team Stork that raised funds for the neonatal intensive care unit. One year on, he speaks to RIA Novosti about what happened that day.
"Hundreds of people donated to my fundraising and many, including my family, came out to cheer for me at the course," Fomovsky said. "As I ran, I took my time to stop and chat with everybody, thank them, joke around. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was very grateful and honored to have the support of so many great people," he recalled.
At around at 2:50 pm two explosions occurred near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, resulting in the death of three and over 260 injuries. "I was still about a mile from the finish, Greg Fomovsky continued. "We all heard the loud thuds, but everyone continued running. It could have been just firecrackers. Besides, at that point of the marathon the runners are completely exhausted and are thinking only of the finish line. We were stopped by the police a few minutes later," he told RIA Novosti.
Confusion was all around the place - "crowds rushing away from the direction of the finish line, nobody could tell what was going on." At that time, the cause of the explosions was still unknown and Greg said he was shocked to realize that "people were dying just a few blocks away." As his family was cheering up for him during the run, he borrowed a phone from someone on the street to call his sister. "Psychologically, it helped me tremendously to be fairly certain that my family and friends were safe," he said.
Last year tragedy however did not derail 2014 Marathon. The 118th Boston Marathon will be held April 21 with a field of 36,000 expected to join the race. This year Greg Fomovsky is running again, and his family and friends will be along the course too.
"For those that were killed and injured last year, for their families and friends - I want to show them my support," Fomovsky said. "Against those who caused the tragedy last year, against those who hoped that by terror they would shut down an event of physical strength and perseverance of spirit - I want to show them that they have failed," he continued proud to be one of them.
"For the spectators, the Boston Marathon is an especially inspiring event," Fomovsky told RIA Novosti, adding that his friends would bring their young children to the marathon so that they can see the example of "strength and perseverance."
For this reason ‘Boston Strong' is the attitude toward the Marathon, according to the biomedical scientist. "Boston has always been a proud city, but for the past year you could physically feel the unity of the people at any public event," Fomovsky added.
The terror attack in Boston fostered tightening security measures and regulations, but people don't mind it understanding the inconvenient security measures such as the limits on bags and the scarcity of trash bins. "The point is not to back away and not to let those who use terror to succeed in changing our lives. Boston did not back away," Fomovsky reiterated.
After the attack, "the shock of the tragedy was mixed and muffled for me," Fomovsky said. He was wondering what could have happened if his loved ones were hurt or if he ran a bit faster and were at the finish line at the time of the explosion.
"The city came together as one ‘Boston Strong' in the following days and that helped the most," Fomovsky recalled.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation, identifying two suspects as Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. In course of a manhunt, one of the brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot dead, and Dzhokhar was arrested and taken to a hospital.
Russian intelligence agencies warmed the FBI several times about Tsarnaev brothers, the US however found no links to terrorism, the recent Congressional report says.
