That man who crumbled to the ground during the Boston Marathon bombings is Bill Iffrig and…..
…..he’s ok.
He got up off the ground, dusted himself off, and walked the remaining 20 feet to the finish line to finish the marathon in 4:03:47.
Yeah that’s an average time for the Boston Marathon except…..
…..Bill’s 78-years old or young and his time was the second best in his age division.
A race official came to check on him and helped him up.
Then, accompanied by the official, Iffrig walked the last 12 feet or so across the finish line.
“I ended up second in my division,” he said. “After you’ve run 26 miles you’re not going to stop there.” His timing chip marked his finish at 4 hours, 3 minutes, 47 seconds.
However, Bill was rattled as we all would have been in that situation:
“It was a close one though, boy. I’ll tell you, that scared me.”
Bill started running in the 70’s and hasn’t slowed down. In fact he’s very fast for his age. He know’s that he is not only fast but has outlived much of his competition as well.
“Not many old guys are as fast as me.”
He reminds me of my good friend, Dallas Smith, who is 72-years old and finished 4th in his age division on this tragic day.
It’s been a day full of bad news, stories, Tweets, and updates so it’s good to read something positive today.
I’m happy that Bill is ok. I’m even happy he got off the asphalt and walked the remaining 20 feet to the finish line.
He’s tough like everyone who ran Boston today and like all of the first responders and volunteers who did an amazing job under a lot of pressure.
Bill is lucky. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those that have been wounded and to the families of those that lost someone.
You can view a GIF of the explosion that knocked Bill down at the bottom of the page by clicking HERE. (I didn’t want to repost the video or GIF again on another page. I think we’ve all been traumatized enough by it today.)
UPDATE: The photo above of Bill is now on the cover of Sports Illustrated for this week. View the SI cover HERE.
More Stories from our Boston Marathon Coverage Today
- Out of the Ashes, Humanity Will Win the Boston Marathon
- Boston Athletic Association Releases Statement
- World Newspapers Response to Boston Marathon Massacre
- Bombs Explode at Boston Marathon Finish: Race Stopped (Photos)
- Lelisa Desisa Wins the 2013 Boston Marathon (Elite Male Results)
- Rita Jeptoo Wins Boston Marathon (Elite Female Results)
- 117th Boston Marathon Live Video Coverage (Watch)
- Live Blog: 117th Boston Marathon Coverage
- Elite Runners at the 117th Boston Marathon
[photo: Boston Globe]
