Rye Witness Asks ‘Where Are You Safe’ After Boston Bombings

The irony of honoring the victims of one tragedy at the start of the race, and then witnessing another tragedy at the end has stuck with Rye resident Noga Ruttenberg who completed the Boston Marathon Monday before the bombs exploded. The race started with a moment of silence for the Sandy Hook victims. 

 “It was a really disappointing way to end such a wonderful event,” Ruttenberg said of the horrific that killed three people and injured up to 100 at the finish line of the Boston marathon on Monday. 

Ruttenberg had finished the race in 3:23:00 and was already back at her hotel, the Sheraton Back Bay, getting ready to meet the other Rye runners for lunch when her husband called.

“Get out of the hotel, there was a bombing,” he told her. She had not heard the explosions because she was on the 16th floor and a few blocks away when they happened.

When she got downstairs, Ruttenberg saw the entire hotel lobby was filled with runners who hadn’t finished the race and had been diverted to side streets without any of their belongings. They were instructed to find safety and didn't know what to do, she said.

Emergency vehicles and officials were everywhere yelling out “we don’t know if another bomb is going to go off,” Ruttenberg said.

“It is one of those things that happens and you think ‘what else?’ It brings you back to 911 and you think what has this world come to? Where are you safe? I don’t know.”

Ruttenberg’s family did not attend the race because the kids had school and her husband was working and she is thankful for that.

“I can’t imagine being that runner whose family came to watch and that happened,” Ruttenberg said of the Richard family; the eight-year-old son was killed in the blasts and the mother and daughter were severely injured.

Ruttenberg’s seven and nine year old are focused on the tragedy, especially knowing that their mom was so close to where it happened. “They heard there was a boy who died and that hits home for them. How do you explain this to a child other than to say the world is safe, but not all the time?

After making her way to the group of Rye runners she traveled with, Ruttenberg heard stories from those who were only a few blocks away from the explosions. .Some had seen the smoke, felt the ground shake and heard the blasts, others had gone through minutes of panic when they were unable to immediately find their families, Ruttenberg said. But all were reunited and safe and they took a somber bus ride back to New York.

Ruttenberg qualified for the race next year and she plans to return.

"I don’t want that to be how I remember it."