Utahns arrive in Boston to participate in marathon


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BOSTON — Hundreds of runners from Utah will be in Boston Monday to participate in the annual marathon.

The runners representing Utah have sent in their photos and cellphone videos to show exactly what they're experiencing just a day before the race, and it certainly is not fear.

"We can't be afraid,” Herriman resident Jennifer Park said. “We have to come back and run strong."

A sense of unity has developed among the Utah runners.

"We run to be in support of each other knowing we are there together as a community," Scott Stoddard said.

And yet they still have to work to muster the courage to run where the bombing took place.

"I want to be one of those runners and not be afraid and now I’m here," Andrea Bird said.

Now in Boston, Utah natives Park, Stoddard and Bird have brought with them their home strength — running with a team of 36 — to finish what they started.

But between the starting and the finish line lies what each runner will carry from within.

"Seeing the memorial of all the shoes, pictures and notes — and it was left here last year,” Stoddard said. “And so the people, the victims, those who lost their lives and those who were injured — my thoughts are going to be with them as I begin the race, and I know it's going to be emotional.”

It's here where just over a year ago three people were killed and hundreds injured, but the victims are still very much alive within each runner.

Side by side, people from around the world come together to race as one, and among them our Utahns, who won't be slowing down, but rather together speeding ahead.

They said it's been a bit of a whirlwind since they arrived in Boston, at times overwhelming, but they still plan to prepare for tomorrow's big race with a healthy dinner and plenty of rest — if possible.

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Devon Dolan

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