DeWald: City ‘eerie’ after attack

Matt DeWald stared out the window of his eighth floor hotel room and watched as plumes of smoke billowed over Boston April 15.

“I saw thousands of people walking away from the bombing while ambulances and emergency personnel were the only ones moving toward the site,” he said. “People were crying, sitting on curbs, hugging each other.”

DeWald, a former University of South Dakota cross country and track runner, placed 20th in the 117th Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes and 35 seconds at the event before returning to his hotel about a mile and half away from the finish line.

Within minutes, the 2004 graduate learned from news reports that two bombs had struck the finish line, turning the celebratory scene into a site of gruesome destruction.

As he tried to call his wife, who was back in Colorado, DeWald said cell service in the city was down for “what seemed like four hours.”

DeWald was able to contact family and friends through the Internet to let them know he was OK. He said in the hours following the bombings, he received hundreds of emails, texts and social media messages from people he barely knew or had lost contact with who asked about his safety following the attack.

As of 11 p.m. April 16, CNN reported three deaths and 183 hospitalizations have been confirmed as a result of the bombing. Two of those killed have been identified as 8-year-old Martin Richard, from the Dorchester neighborhood of the city, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, from Arlington, Mass. The third victim is said to be a Chinese graduate student at Boston University whose name is being withheld pending permission of the family, reported the New York Daily News.

Later in the evening, DeWald finally left his hotel, Le Meridien, to get some dinner across the street. Stepping outside, he said the city was so eerie in the explosions aftermath.

“Understandably, the bombings were the only thing people were talking about, everyone is mourning for the victims and their families,” he said. “It is such a tragic event, it just doesn’t make sense – it isn’t right.”

DeWald described April 15 as a day he felt like he was sandwiched between two tragedies, because Boston Marathon organizers dedicated the run to the Newtown victims, and held a moment of silence at the beginning to honor them, he said.

“With beginning the marathon by honoring the 26 people who died at Sandy Hook Elementary, and then it ending with more tragedy at the bombing at the finish line, it just isn’t right,” he said.

DeWald said the beginning of the marathon was full of excitement and energy, and “(lived) up to every expectation I had of the race, being the oldest marathon in the world.” He said he has never seen a more positive and energetic crowd than what he saw at the beginning of the race, but now, the general feeling in Boston seems to be disbelief.

“This is something that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life,” DeWald said. “I never wanted to be apart of history, but in some sense, I am now.”

DeWald said after watching what happened, he does not feel comfortable being in setting with a lot of people.

“When you are with millions of people, you don’t always think about how vulnerable you are,” he said. “It makes you feel uneasy, vulnerable.”

Those responsible for the bombings have yet to be confirmed. CNN reported that Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, said, “The range of suspects and motives remains wide open.”

DeWald said as people continue to wonder who was responsible, he knows one thing: He wants to support the marathon, and the people of Boston more than ever.

“After today, I am fired up to return because I don’t want whoever did this to think they won somehow,” he said. “(The marathon) is such an outstanding event, and it is ridiculous that anyone would take aim at the people here. When you cross that finish line, it is all about celebration, and it is so wrong that someone tried to make it about fear and terror. I am going to train like hell and return here, and I am going to run for the victims and their families.
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