By DANNY BUTTLER
IT’S been three years since Barry Rogers last ran the Boston Marathon, but news of the terror blast took him straight back to the famous finish line.
The Narre Warren runner said hearing about the atrocity brought back memories from one of the best experiences of his life, which will now be forever tinged with the tragedy of the bomb blasts.
“I just had an eerie feeling when I saw it in the morning, you can picture running up that chute,” he said.
“I get goose-pimples on my arm just talking to you about it.”
The 44-year-old owner of Garry Rogers car yard in Pakenham said he still had his daily run on Tuesday morning, inadvertently wearing a tribute to the victims of the terror attack.
“When I ran this morning, I just threw a Boston marathon top, but I didn’t even click that I had it on,” he said.
Apart from his obvious sympathy for the bomb victims, Barry said he felt sorry for the whole city of Boston which embraces the event in a unique way.
“It’s fantastic, the whole town gets behind it,” he said.
“The Red Sox play a game and the Celtics play that night. It’s a big deal for them.”
“It’s the most watched live sports event in America.”
Barry, who completed the marathon in 1999 and again in 2010, said he would probably return to Boston for one more run.
“The kids have been asking me when I will take them, so I might do it in a couple of years or maybe next year,” he said.
Even with the spectre of terrorism fresh in in mind from the countless television images of the blasts, Barry said he would not bow to violent criminals and avoid future races.
“I don’t want to sound like a vigilante, but you can’t let people like that stop you from doing something like that, or else they win.”
