Karen Matjucha, 49, of Sudbury, said she was about three tenths of a mile away from the finish when she had to stop running because of the explosions.

"I saw people coming toward me crying and I couldn't figure out why," she said.

It was her first Boston Marathon, and she never finished. She said police directed her to go back to the medical tent at the 25 mile mark.

Around 6 p.m. Friday, Matjucha searched around Dartmouth Street for a cab, unable to reach her car, which was parked in a cordoned-off area. She and several others who could not access their cars or their hotels shivered, still in their running clothes and without money.

Connie Marsh, 51, of Rockford, Ill., said she was on Commonwealth Avenue when police directed her and dozens of other runners to stop because of the explosions. Many people sat down on grassy areas near the road, Marsh said, and some residents went outside to help cold runners.

"They came out with garbage bags and water, some people came out with their phones," she said.
- Zack Sampson

US Rep. Michael Capuano on the floor of the US House: I want to remind everyone that this is not just about the people of Boston; the Boston Marathon is an international event with runners from all over the world. I would not be at all surprised if some of those injured aren't from Boston or Massachusetts.

The House then held a moment of silence for the victims of the explosions.

From Natalie Covate, Boston University News Service:

Panicha Imsomboon, a BU journalism graduate student, stood on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon track when she heard a bomb to her left.

“I turned to the first explosion just like everyone did,” she said. “I saw the smoke, probably as high as the buildings there. Just a few seconds after that, I heard another explosion.”

After the second bomb, the crowd began to leave. Imsomboon walked with the crowd for half a block.

“After I stopped walking, a kid, maybe three or four years old, started crying,” she said. “At first, his parents thought he was shocked. Then, they found out that one of his legs was injured.”

The parents were trying to call an ambulance when an ambulance drove past them.

“In the end, the mother carried her boy and ran to find the ambulance,” Imsomboon said.
Imsomboon continued moving with the crowd when a woman with a neck injury walked up beside her.

“She had to lay down on the sidewalk,” Imsomboon said. “The blood was coming out of her neck. A friend of hers tried to hold her hand. All of us, including me, tried to yell at the ambulance because at the time she looked really bad.”

Imsomboon handed the woman a scarf to serve as a bandage.

“I know my scarf might not be clean enough,” Imsomboon said, “but it was the best thing I could find.”

Imsomboon made it safely back to her apartment near Boston University. She has no injuries other than a buzzing in her ears. She was a member of a student team reporting the marathon. She was covering fashion at the finish line of the marathon.