Boston Marathoners Finish At OKC Memorial Marathon

The bombings in Boston not only killed three people and injured over a hundred others, but it also prevented thousands of runners from completing the race.

Some of the runners, though, finally got that closure on Sunday in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum invited all Boston marathoners who were unable to complete the race, the chance to do that during the OKC Memorial downtown. Adele Pitt and Cari Yerkes, both of Wisconsin, accepted that invitation.

"I thought it was really wonderful for this marathon to reach out to Boston," said Yerkes.

Yerkes and Pitt were both running the Boston marathon when the bombings occurred.

"We were probably about mile 20 1/2 when we noticed something was wrong," said Yerkes.

Both runners were just short of the finish line and forced to stop.

"I got to 25.5," said Pitt. "It was crushing to not be able to finish."

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But now they feel they have. The two women were among at least half a dozen other Boston marathoners who reunited in OKC to finish the race they started in Boston.

"Awesome, to get through that finish line and get your medal," said Pitt. "When I got to 25.5 here, I was like, yes, I can do this. It was moving."

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum waived the registration fee for the Boston runners as they joined the more than 27,000 Memorial participants this year, all under increased security.

"By going out and doing things like this, and showing that we are not going to let people like that win, we will go out to football games, religious events, and we will carry on," said Dean Phillips, Boston marathoner from Texas.

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And the Boston runners agree with all runners, that they will, in fact, carry on.

"We'd already decided we were going to run this one too," said Linda McMichael, Boston marathoner from Texas. "So, that wasn't going to stop us from running this one and it won't keep us from going back to Boston."

Along with all the Memorial runners, the Boston marathoners who finished on Sunday, received an Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon medal and finisher's t-shirt.