Amarillo runners unharmed in Boston Marathon bombing

AMARILLO - Two men from Amarillo ran the Boston Marathon Monday and both are unharmed. A third Amarillo man was actually registered to run it, but wasn't able to make it.

Rose Burch was relieved to see her son's facebook status after watching the horror at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on TV.

Tim Burch, 42, who has lived in Baltimore for the past 20 years but grew up in Amarillo, never got to cross the finish line. He wasn't able to call home to Amarillo for about an hour after the explosions.

"He didn't tell me where he was, but he said I just wanted to let you know I'm okay," Burch said.

Tim was running to raise money for a little boy with Autism. Burch said that he would have been carrying the child across the finish line if he had ever got there, and she was terrified for the both of them.

"He's my baby," Burch said. "I was typing him a message to say 'keep going Tim, you're doing great' when I heard what happened. He likes for us to call him when he races, he can hear it in his ear and it helps him run."

Burch said today brought back memories from September 11th when another son was trapped inside the pentagon.

"I just about had a heart attack," Burch said.
        
Another Amarillo man, local dentist Charlie Hennessey, finished about an hour before the blasts.

"I didn't know about it until I got back to the hotel and someone from Amarillo called me," Hennessey said. "By the grace of God I'm fine."

One of the many in Amarillo worrying about Hennessey was Tony Stuart.  Stuart has run the Boston Marathon 14 times and was actually registered for it this year as well, but couldn't attend because of a family emergency.

"I was blessed to not be there," Stuart said. "You know just by the grace of God I wasn't there."

Stuart has run 55 marathons through-out his life and says the Boston Marathon is still his favorite, despite the tragedy Monday.

"I hope this doesn't deter people from participating in the marathon. If you have a chance to run the Boston Marathon, you should," Stuart said.