Four runners from Mercer Island were at Monday’s Boston Marathon – all finished before the two bombs went off, some just seconds before the explosions. The twin explosions near the finish line rocked Boston, killing three people and injuring hundreds.

Peter Noone finished the race in 3 hours, 33:15 minutes, followed by Robert Cremin at 3:55.46, well before the explosions took place. Lisa Spencer finished the marathon in 4:09.11, while Jeff Poppe finished in 4:09.28. Pictures of the marathon finish line taken as the bombs went off, show the racing clock at 4:09.43.

Noone said Tuesday afternoon, after traveling back from the East Coast, he was luckily no where near the blasts, trying to find family in the post race chaos, which quickly turned into a much different scene.

“I had finished about an hour before and was a few blocks away in The Commons (big park nearby) waiting to meet my sister,” said he. “She and her son watched the race from Heartbreak Hill and were heading to the finish line on the T (Boston’s train) to meet me. She could not get on a train because they were full so she directed me to meet her at the park instead. They finally got on a train heading to the park and then it was evacuated right around the finish line. It was just a very chaotic scene in Boston. With ambulances, fire trucks and police cars everywhere with their sirens going. The cell phone service was either overloaded or shut down in parts so connecting with people was difficult.”

Mercer Island runners Rhonda Glass, Roger Larson, Chelese Longwith and Timothy Steege were all listed on the Boston Marathon site as registered for the event, but did not participate in the event.