Hundreds of runners, walkers, spectators and volunteers – including some who ran in last week’s Boston Marathon – came out this morning at Delaware Park for a solidarity run held to offer support to the City of Boston and the running community.
The event was held six days after two bombs shattered the Boston event, killing three and injuring dozens more. The organizers and participants in the Buffalo run say they wanted to show their determination not to let the bombers stop them from doing what they love.
More than 1,100 people had signed up on the Facebook page for the Boston Marathon Solidarity Run, which was put together by Julia Burke and Elizabeth Weinberg.
“The response was overwhelming,” Weinberg said shortly before the start.
A bagpiper and a recorded version of the National Anthem marked the start of the run shortly after 9 a.m. Many participants carried American flags, and about 10 people wore the jackets they purchased at this year’s Boston Marathon.
Carol Flaherty, an attorney from East Aurora, was on the marathon course in Boston and 0.4 miles from the finish when she and other runners were stopped by police. After an hour, they were allowed to go collect their belongings.
Flaherty saw some of the devastation of the attack, and the memory remains painful.
She said she came out for the solidarity run “to come together. To share my story. To be with friends, the running community.”
Other participants – including Nikki Tolias, daughters Jessica and Audrey Pilotte and Nikki’s husband, Charles Tolias, all of Amherst – had a personal connection to Boston.
Charles is from the Boston suburb of Norwood, two of his cousins are firefighters there and one of them ran the marathon.
“We wanted to come out for support,” said Nikki, who wore a camouflage Boston Red Sox cap.
There was no set distance for the run, with organizers saying people were free to run, or walk, as many times around Delaware Park’s ring road as they wished.
Weinberg said there was no registration fee for the event, but people were invited to make a donation to the Red Cross. Volunteers also were selling “RunforBoston” T-shirts, with $10 per shirt going to The One Fund Boston and the airline company JetBlue pledging to match every dollar raised.
email: swatson@buffnews.com
The event was held six days after two bombs shattered the Boston event, killing three and injuring dozens more. The organizers and participants in the Buffalo run say they wanted to show their determination not to let the bombers stop them from doing what they love.
More than 1,100 people had signed up on the Facebook page for the Boston Marathon Solidarity Run, which was put together by Julia Burke and Elizabeth Weinberg.
“The response was overwhelming,” Weinberg said shortly before the start.
A bagpiper and a recorded version of the National Anthem marked the start of the run shortly after 9 a.m. Many participants carried American flags, and about 10 people wore the jackets they purchased at this year’s Boston Marathon.
Carol Flaherty, an attorney from East Aurora, was on the marathon course in Boston and 0.4 miles from the finish when she and other runners were stopped by police. After an hour, they were allowed to go collect their belongings.
Flaherty saw some of the devastation of the attack, and the memory remains painful.
She said she came out for the solidarity run “to come together. To share my story. To be with friends, the running community.”
Other participants – including Nikki Tolias, daughters Jessica and Audrey Pilotte and Nikki’s husband, Charles Tolias, all of Amherst – had a personal connection to Boston.
Charles is from the Boston suburb of Norwood, two of his cousins are firefighters there and one of them ran the marathon.
“We wanted to come out for support,” said Nikki, who wore a camouflage Boston Red Sox cap.
There was no set distance for the run, with organizers saying people were free to run, or walk, as many times around Delaware Park’s ring road as they wished.
Weinberg said there was no registration fee for the event, but people were invited to make a donation to the Red Cross. Volunteers also were selling “RunforBoston” T-shirts, with $10 per shirt going to The One Fund Boston and the airline company JetBlue pledging to match every dollar raised.
email: swatson@buffnews.com