NORFOLK, Va. – On Monday, April 15, tragedy struck the 2013 Boston Marathon when two bombs were detonated near the finish line; killing three people and injuring more than 170. A member of the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command’s Joint Public Affairs Support Element, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Clint Gebke, and his wife, Meghan, both ran in the marathon and shared their experiences from that terrible day.
It was the second time Clint had run the Boston Marathon and the first time for Meghan, who had been pregnant when Clint ran it in 2010. After qualifying this past year, the Gebkes had been vigorously training and were extremely excited to be in Boston to run the world’s oldest annual marathon together.
“We actually arrived in Boston the Friday before the race,” Clint explained, as they wanted to enjoy some time in the city before the marathon.
Clint and Meghan, along with their daughter, Lexie, and Meghan’s mother, Ms. Arden Lovell, chose to stay in a hotel south of Boston near the marathon’s starting point in Hopkinton, Mass. On the morning of the race, as Clint and Meghan listened for the starting gun, Ms. Lovell took Lexie to a spot on the marathon course near mile eight or nine to cheer on her parents. Once the Gebkes passed by, Ms. Lovell and Lexie headed into the city to congratulate them following their completion of the race.
Clint and Meghan are both avid runners, having competed in numerous competitive races and even completing an Iron Man competition last year. Due to their vast running experience, the Gebkes both finished this year’s Boston Marathon with impressive times. Clint finished in 2:48:18 and Meghan finished in 3:05:15 – long before the first of two bombs was detonated near the finish line at 2:50 p.m., or 4:09:43 into the marathon.
In fact, when the bombs went off, Clint and Meghan had already gathered their personal belongings from the finish line, received their commemorative medals, reunited with Ms. Lovell and Lexie at nearby Boston Common park and were waiting at an underground subway station to travel back to their hotel.
“All of a sudden they began clearing out the subway station,” Meghan recalled. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
“We were trying to find another station that would get us back to the hotel, because at that time, we still weren’t aware that there had been a bombing and they were shutting down all mass transit,” Clint added.
The Gebkes ended up at a nearby Barnes & Noble store while they tried to determine an alternate mode of transportation. It was there that a friendly gentleman overheard their conversation and informed them of the bombings at the marathon finish line.
“Shock,” Meghan said of her initial reaction when she heard about the bombing. “I couldn’t believe someone would attack a marathon; an event that is so honest and sincere for the people participating.”
As more and more marathon runners and other individuals trickled into the Barnes & Noble, a sense of camaraderie and unity began to take over in light of the day’s tragic events.
“There was a real sense of community,” Clint explained. “Although we had been strangers before this day, everyone was sharing the information they were receiving and offering use of their cell phones, chargers and computers to help out others.”
After a few hours of regrouping at the Barnes & Noble and calmly informing frantic family members and friends that they were OK, the Gebkes identified a train station three or four miles outside the city that was still in operation. Although they had to walk to the train station, the Gebkes were able to finally reach their hotel; exhausted, but thankful that their family was safe and in awe of the day’s occurrences.
Despite the tragedy of that day, the Gebkes have not been deterred from wanting to run in the Boston Marathon again. Like many other runners, this senseless event has only inspired the Gebkes to return next year.
“We are now much more motivated to run the Boston Marathon again,” Clint said.
“As long as we don’t have anything else going on, we will be there next year,” Meghan added.
More than 23,000 runners participated in this year’s Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Athletic Association website, although only 17,580 runners were able to actually complete the race.