Explosions at Boston Marathon: Cranberry Area Residents Were Running in the Race

A handful of Cranberry residents were among those running in the Boston Marathon, which was rocked by explosions Monday.

Get Fit Family's Joella Baker, who heads the Cranberry YMCA Dawn Crackers, said she had two athletes at the event. Susan Moury, a teacher at Seneca Valley High School, and Dianne Zalenski were uninjured, she said.

"Both are thankfully safe," she said.

Baker said Zalenski was in the medic tent at the time of the explosions and witnessed bloodied participants, some of them missing limbs, being brought in for treatment.

"She said it was very sad and she was very rattled," Baker, who spoke to Zalenski once she returned to her hotel room, said.

Another Cranberry resident finished the Boston Marathon in three hours, five minutes, more than an hour before the explosions.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that James Wrubel and his wife, Eileen, were near Government Center Station, less than two miles away and he didn't hear the explosion.

Two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon had people carrying bloody spectators into the medical tent set up for runners, according to an Associated Press report on the Pocono Record website.

Wrubel told P-G that officials are inspecting the bags of anyone involved in the marathon.

"It seems to be informal at this point ... everyone who's running a business seems to be on edge," he told the newspaper.

The explosions happened about three hours after the winners crossed the finish line. "There are a lot of people down," the AP quoted one man saying.

CNN is reporting three are people dead, including an 8-year-old boy, and 141 people are injured. A story on the Chicago Tribune website also said the explosions happened as people were cheering on those still completing the race.

NBC News reported fire engines, police and emergency medical personnel were headed to the scene. An affiliate reporter told NBC News she heard two loud explosions, and that "everybody kind of ducked and hit the ground," and Jackie Bruno, reporter for New England Cable News said she saw people with significant injuries, including one person with a leg blown off.

"Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror," Bruno said.  

For a full list of race participants, including by area, click here.

Read more from our Boston area Patch sites.

Were you one of the runners from the Cranberry area participating in the Boston Marathon? Please contact editor Jessica Sinichak at jessica.sinichak@patch.com.