(Ben Lypka) Runners getting set to take part in the Boston Marathon were warned beforehand that they were going to die, said a Squamish resident who took part in the race.
Three people were killed and more than 140 were injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the famed 42.2-kilometre running event on Monday (April 15).
Mike Heiliger, 59, said a woman holding several bags was telling runners who were picking up their pre-race packages in downtown Boston on Saturday (April 13) that they were going to die if they participated in the event.
“I was downtown on Saturday and you know, you see these people on the street and think it’s just some nutbar,” he told The Chief from his Boston hotel on Monday. “It was a little creepy because you can identify who the runners are and I heard her say to this runner two feet away from me that, ‘If you run tomorrow you’re going to die.’”
At the time, Heiliger said he thought about telling the woman that the race was Monday, but decided not to correct her.
Heiliger was in the process of calling the police after his conversation with The Chief.
“I thought it was just a nut and maybe she was a nut but she was holding a couple of bags like she just got off a plane and was accosting runners on Saturday,” he said.
The Squamish resident was one of a group of about 15 runners from the North Shore and he said they’re all fine.
“We all run in a run club and as far as I know all of our people are OK,” he said. “Some of them didn’t get to finish, unfortunately, because when the bomb went off — that was it. They [race officials] stopped everybody.”
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