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SALT LAKE CITY -— Just days after a terror attack marred the Boston Marathon, Salt Lake City is putting the finishing touches on its own race which runs Saturday.
Organizers say the Salt Lake City Marathon is seeing increased participation and interest because of the tragedy.
"Runners are a hardy group," said race director Steve Bingham.
Bingham said in total, over 7,000 runners had registered for the marathon and he was expecting 3,000 to 5,000 spectators for the event.
SALT LAKE CITY — Among the undeterred running faithful in Salt Lake City is Joe Muldowney. The Philadelphia native completed Monday's Boston Marathon before the bombs went off, and now he's in town as a vendor promoting a book.
It was Muldowney's 16th run in Boston, and it was undoubtedly the scariest.
"We were indoors, just had ordered our food, when we heard what sounded like a cannon blast," he recalled. "The sirens, the helicopters, the police -- it was almost deafening."
He also spoke of runners' resilience.
"I think everybody has to bounce back and we can't let terrorists or whoever these people were dictate our lives," Muldowney said.
Chris Watson is one of the many runners who will participate in the Salt Lake marathon. An Orem police officer, he is planning on running Saturday's race dressed in his police uniform: belt, hat and all.
Watson wasn't planning on doing that, wasn't even planning on running, until a few days ago after the Boston bombs went off.
"No matter what they do to us as Americans ... it's not going to put us down. We're still going to get back up, and we're ... you just can't be afraid," he said.
Allison Gerrard was afraid, and had good reason. She ran the Boston Marathon last week, finishing a few minutes before the bombs exploded.
"I would just start crying a bit. It was really emotional," she said.
When she came back home to Utah, she thought she was done running for a while. Then she realized running was exactly what she needed. Friday, she signed up for the Salt Lake marathon.
"We're stronger than we know, and that's why I knew I could do this again," Gerrard said. "I'm stronger than I know. Everyone who runs the marathon, they're stronger than they know."
Tim Hurst is one of the strongest. He lost his leg in an accident when he was 21 years old and didn't start running marathons until he was 50, using this special running blade.
Hurst wants those runners, and even spectators, who were hurt in Boston to know they can still run. That's is why he, too, registered Friday to run Saturday.
"Maybe (Boston bombing victims will) see me and realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there is hope for them," Hurst said."
Email: aadams@ksl.com and acabrero@ksl.com
Requests for media credentials had more than tripled compared to last year's marathon, race officials said.
"I believe we have a station coming in from Japan that's interested in our event," Bingham said.
Law enforcement officers are expected to be out in increased numbers Saturday, though both Salt Lake City police and Unified police declined to elaborate much further on their security plans.
"Anytime we have a major tragedy there are lessons that are learned," Unified police Lt. Justin Hoyal said.
Hoyal said both Salt Lake and Unified police have been game planning security for the event for eight months.
Salt Lake City Deputy Police Chief Mike Brown talked about their shutdown plans Friday. He said the first step would be to broadcast alerts on TV, radio and social media to notify the public to shelter in place. Then officers would secure the main roads in and out of the area.
"We are prepared if something should occur like (the Boston bombings), to do something like that. You hope for the best but plan for the worst," Brown said.
But the public is the biggest participant. Police are asking spectators to do their part and report suspicious activity, even erring on the side of over-reporting.
"If it is nothing, we would much rather go out, look into something and have it be nothing than have it be something and have it be overlooked," Hoyal said.
Utah's deputy commissioner of public safety thinks Utahns have shown they can respond to crisis.
"It's great that we have this team relationship between law enforcement, the public and the media, to be able to work under these most difficult situations," said Col. Keith Squires.
Meanwhile, Bingham said Friday race organizers were still determining different ways to pay tribute to the runners and victims of Boston, but he declined to elaborate further. Published reports have said some runners planned to wear green Saturday.
