Portsmouth Runner: Felt 'Like a War Zone'

Janet Parkinson didn't get to finish her 18th consecutive Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon after two bombs exploded near the finish line, but she knows that she and her family are truly lucky to have left the city unhurt.

Parkinson and her husband Steve Parkinson, who serves as Portsmouth Public Works director, were driving home from Boston on Monday evening when she recalled how they were affected.

Parkinson said she and her son, Jordan, were running a good race and were getting close to the area where her husband Steve, her daughter and grandson were watching them finish when they heard the first explosion go off.

“It was really scary for us because my husband, and my daughter and my grandson were waiting for us,” Parkinson said. "Nobody really knew what happened."

Parkinson, 61, said "it was such a great day up to that point."

She said that as she and Steve made their way to their car following the chaotic scene of first responders, police officers and firefighters and ambulances, it felt "like a war zone."

Parkinson said the reason she and her son were running closer to the time the bombs exploded is because they were in the middle of the field of 23,000 runners. Other Portsmouth runners who finished closer to the front of the field such as Andrew Huebner finished their races before the explosions happened. Parkinson believes she was on pace to finish the marathon in about four minutes, which is her usual time.

Given everything that happened, that two people were killed and dozens more were injured, achieving that time is not nearly as important to her as it was when she began the race.

"We're very, very lucky that none of us got injured," Parkinson said. "I hope this is the last time I am very that close to something like this again."