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Dozens of Valley locals ran in the 2013 Boston Marathon and witnessed the bombing attack. John Volkman is a Fresno Runner and he was in Boston on that April day in 2013. He said on Wednesday, as the verdict for bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came down, it was an emotional day to think about what happened two years ago.
Volkman has run 140 marathons, at least one in every state in the United States. But, he said Boston is truly a special race, and a place he calls home, besides Fresno.
"Boston Marathon means a lot to me. I’ve run it. This will be the 17th time. I’ve had a lot of my runners qualify. A month ago my wife qualified, So I’m really excited about it," said Volkman about the 2015 race in less than two weeks.
"I finished about 15 minutes before the bomb. We heard this explosion. We thought it was something industrial," commented Volkman in regards to the 2013 Boston Marathon that he ran.
Volkman quickly learned that noise was not an accident. It was an explosion that would impact the running world and the country forever.
He reacted, "I was so mad, you’re gonna get me emotional. Because to me, I take it personal, because this is my family. And I can never say this without choking up."
Many local runners like Volkman, and Aaron Samansky, owner of Fleet Feet Sports in Fresno, said that with the next race taking place in just weeks, the guilty verdict against Tsarnaev could not have come at a more perfect time.
Samansky, said, "I am happy that the verdict came down as it was, and I do hope that the people that suffered those awful injuries can find a little bit of closure."
Volkman said he’s moving forward by continuing to run in Boston, not just for himself, but for those who were lost and injured.
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