DAYTON -- Mike Andersen's first Boston Marathon will be memorable in more ways than one. The 2013 Boston Marathon was everything he imagined it would be until the bombs went off â the bombs that killed at least two and injured many more.
"I had finished the marathon about two hours before the explosions happened," Andersen said. "I was two blocks away and people around us said it felt like thunder. It was chaos all around us."
When the bombs went off, the 2010 University of Dayton graduate and his fiancée Kendel Ross, also a 2010 Dayton graduate, were enjoying a celebratory meal at the Marriott Hotel. Andersen had run a personal best race with a time of 2:25.12 â just eight minutes off the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:18.
Both Andersen and Ross are safe, but are having trouble reaching family due to interrupted cell service in the area. They are also caught in Boston because their automobile is downtown. He has very mixed emotions about the day's events.
"It was amazing. I got so emotional in a good way. Kendel was there at the end and supported me through the whole race," he said. "I just tried to take it all in. There were tons of people, very happy people.
Andersen, who currently manages Running Lab, an innovative shoe store in Brighton, Mich., that uses video to analyze which shoe best fits each runner, was the first Flyer to earn men's cross country All-Atlantic 10 honors every season (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009). He was the 2005 A-10 Rookie of the Year, won the 2006 Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational and the 2007 National Catholic Invitational at Notre Dame.
Anderson and Ross, a four-year standout on the Flyer women's basketball team and current strength and conditioning coach for the UD women's team, will be married Oct. 18.
Source: Krystal Warren, University of Dayton Athletics Communications
PHOTO: Mike Andersen and Kendel Ross return to Dayton after Andersen competed in the Boston Marathon and both escaped injury from the bomb blasts. The couple spoke to Anchor Deborah Linz about their experience of surviving the explosions.
"I had finished the marathon about two hours before the explosions happened," Andersen said. "I was two blocks away and people around us said it felt like thunder. It was chaos all around us."
When the bombs went off, the 2010 University of Dayton graduate and his fiancée Kendel Ross, also a 2010 Dayton graduate, were enjoying a celebratory meal at the Marriott Hotel. Andersen had run a personal best race with a time of 2:25.12 â just eight minutes off the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:18.
- COMING UP: Anchor Deborah Linz speaks with Anderson and Ross as they return to Dayton. We'll have their story and others tonight at 6 on ABC 22 and 6:30 on FOX 45.
Both Andersen and Ross are safe, but are having trouble reaching family due to interrupted cell service in the area. They are also caught in Boston because their automobile is downtown. He has very mixed emotions about the day's events.
"It was amazing. I got so emotional in a good way. Kendel was there at the end and supported me through the whole race," he said. "I just tried to take it all in. There were tons of people, very happy people.
Andersen, who currently manages Running Lab, an innovative shoe store in Brighton, Mich., that uses video to analyze which shoe best fits each runner, was the first Flyer to earn men's cross country All-Atlantic 10 honors every season (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009). He was the 2005 A-10 Rookie of the Year, won the 2006 Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational and the 2007 National Catholic Invitational at Notre Dame.
Anderson and Ross, a four-year standout on the Flyer women's basketball team and current strength and conditioning coach for the UD women's team, will be married Oct. 18.
Source: Krystal Warren, University of Dayton Athletics Communications
PHOTO: Mike Andersen and Kendel Ross return to Dayton after Andersen competed in the Boston Marathon and both escaped injury from the bomb blasts. The couple spoke to Anchor Deborah Linz about their experience of surviving the explosions.