North Side Runners Unite for Boston Marathon Victims

On April 15, Doug Franklin ran the Boston Marathon and beat his personal record by 12 minutes, completing 26.2 miles in about 3 hours and 57 minutes.

He was euphoric. And then he was horrified.

The Lakeview resident finished just 9 minutes before two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 180 people.

“I went from the top of the world to complete and utter chaos,” he said. “Police were telling us to go every which way because there’s no way to direct people when something like that happens.”

But after tragedy struck in one of the largest races in the world, the running community has united. Companies across the country held a memorial run for Boston Monday night, one week after the bombings.

In Lincoln Square, more than 180 runners gathered at Fleet Feet Chicago for a 4-mile run throughout the neighborhood.

Long and short distance runners made their way down Leland and Rockwell avenues, ending at the Daily Bar and Grill, which donated a keg to the cause.

Ann Puetz, from Northcenter, ran for her friends who were at the marathon, all thankfully safe, she said. Puetz ran the race in 2011 and was shaken when she saw what time the bombs were detonated.

“It was about my finishing time when the bombs went off, so it was pretty surreal,” she said.

Like Puetz, everyone in Franklin’s running group was safe, but only six out of 10 people finished the race. The six-time marathon runner was competing for buildOn, a youth service program that combats poverty, drugs and illiteracy by building schools across the globe. And like the marathon itself, his group will run again.

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