'That Last Stretch of Road Will Never Be the Same'

Christian Natale was at the medal station last Monday, two blocks from the finish line, when the first explosion shattered the jubilant atmosphere as many of the charity runners completed the Boston Marathon.

The 46-year-old Natale, one of 13 Danvers residents running that day, just crossed the line about 5 minutes earlier in his 12th consecutive marathon to benefit Dana-Farber. He said his goal was to finish under four hours and having a good surge of energy the last three to four miles, he picked up the pace to cross the line at 3:58:33. 

“If I had hit the wall at that point, I would have been right there,” he said. Marathon was his favorite day of the year.

Natale said he had no idea what was happening after the first explosion – it could have been anything from fireworks to some sort of subway incident – but by the second blast several seconds later, he “knew something bad was happening.”

That’s when the panic started to set in and everything turned "very scary and chaotic."

Natale said he couldn’t see the gruesome scene initially because of all the smoke filling the air and then “this huge crowd” ran toward him, so he ran too.

In those moments, he said, he was relieved to know his wife and daughter were safe, already at the Copley Marriott waiting for him. He was eventually able to grab his cell phone and call to let them know he was safe too.

After the smoke cleared, the finish line area was a strange juxtaposition, he said – everyone who just finished was being herded away while all those runners on the other side of the line were stuck out on the course with no immediate way to collect their belongings or meet their families. 

Natale said about half his teammates for Dana-Farber didn’t get to finish their marathons. “I’m still trying to process that it happened.”

Ironically, Natale’s first Boston Marathon was seven months after Sept. 11, 2001 and he recalls thinking then about the possibility of another terrorist attack on American soil. Despite that horror coming true, it won’t stop Natale from running Boston for a 13th time next year.

There will just be one difference for Natale, and likely thousands of other marathoners: “That last stretch of road is never going to be the same.”