Chief Reporter
Westcountry runners caught up in the deadly Boston marathon attack have spoken of their shock at the bombing.
The terror blasts at the finishing line left at least three people dead, including an eight-year-old boy, while scores more were injured, many requiring amputations.
Some 347 of the 25,000 taking part in the race were British and several told of the aftermath of the two blasts.
Bev Dowrick, from Torpoint in Cornwall, said she had just finished the marathon in a time of three hours and 31 minutes and was heading towards the family area to meet her husband when the explosions happened.
"I was about 300 metres away," she told the BBC. "You feel the explosion first of all, then you hear the bang and then the smoke.
"There were two explosions and everyone around me was a bit stunned. The police start running, the sirens start going and you get a sense that this isn't a firecracker going off or a clap of thunder."
Ms Dowrick, a physiotherapist, said she returned to a nearby apartment with her husband, her friend Nicola Rutherford, who finished 15 minutes behind her, and her partner.
"Right now the four of us in our apartment are veering from elation that we're safe, elation that we've finished the marathon and absolute disbelief that we've been caught up in something this horrific and disbelief that people have lost their lives and we're safe," she said. "You feel that you shouldn't feel so happy that you're safe."
Mark Jenkin, a 34-year-old sports journalist from Barnstaple in Devon, said the explosion had put the race into perspective.
After finishing 138th in a time of two hours and 24 minutes, he told his paper, the North Devon Journal: "It had been a beautiful day in Massachusetts.
"The support along the whole course was amazing and it was one of the friendliest races I've ever taken part in. I had a bad time over the last few miles but the actual race result just seems irrelevant now.
"I was so drained at the finish line, feeling dizzy and stumbling around and the volunteers were so kind. A couple hours later they would have more serious things to worry about. I'm so thankful to have been out of harm's way.
"My thoughts go out to all those people who were injured and the families of those who were killed. Boston is a great city and the people are rightly proud of their marathon which they have hosted since 1897. It was a privilege to take part in such a historic race and it is sad that the 117th Boston Marathon will be remembered for the wrong reasons."
Experienced runner 51-year-old Michael Smith, from Weymouth, completed the 26.2-mile course – his 152nd marathon – about 20 minutes before the fatal explosions.
"I was in the baggage area collecting my things when we heard the explosions," he said. "We could see the smoke going up.
"We didn't know what had happened but the police were there straight away, cordoning off the area."
Determined to run in London on Sunday, he was flying home yesterday with his mother Lois, 74.
"I was going to the finish to see Michael at the end but changed my mind, which was probably a good thing," Mrs Smith said.
"I missed him at the 22-mile marker so got the underground to where the finish was. He found me just as I was getting off the tube, which was when the police arrived and shut it down."
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