Saugus marathon runner describes terror near finish line

SAUGUS – Saugus resident Bob Catinazzo was about two miles away from finishing his fifth Boston Marathon when he heard “rumblings” from other runners about two explosions at the finish line.?We were on the course and you started hearing things,” he said. “I don’t run with my phone, but the girl that I run with and a lot of people carry them when they run. She had gotten a text and it kind of got confirmed by a police officer that two explosions happened.”Catinazzo, 45, who was running for Boston Children?s Hospital, said details were scarce as he made his way down Beacon Street in Brookline. And while people weren’t sure whether the race was canceled or being re-routed, Catinazzo said reaching his family, who was waiting at mile 25, was his top priority.?My family was with their cheering section near the St. Mary’s train stop and at that point, everybody was just telling the spectators they all had to leave,” he said. “They were all walking back toward the runners. It was surreal. At one point while we were running down Beacon, they told all the runners to move to the side, and a whole slew of police vehicles flew down the street.”At that point Catinazzo said he knew something serious had happened and called the atmosphere along the marathon route “crazy and scary.” Catinazzo described a scene of uncertainty and confusion made worse by screeching sirens from every direction, random roadblocks and countless law enforcement.?I knew my wife and my son weren’t at the finish line, but it doesn’t change the fact that you have 1,001 questions and all you want to do is get to your family,” he said. “When my son and my wife were walking back, I saw them, and that’s when a police officer said the race was over, he put up a barricade on Beacon Street and no one could get through.”Catinazzo said finishing the race became irrelevant.?I just wanted to find my wife and my son,” said Catinazzo. “When you hear something like two explosions, it becomes bigger than finishing a race.”Once he found his wife and 12-year-old son, Catinazzo said it was a “painstaking” process to try and get out of the area. With his car parked at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, Catinazzo said it was impossible to get back downtown.?There were rumors that hotels were being evacuated ? that they found other devices ?” he said. “We did everything we could to get there and we couldn’t. We tried jumping on the train ? the train was closed. We just bit the bullet, were lucky enough to find a cab and got home. At that point all my son wanted to do was go home. It was scary.”Catinazzo, exhausted after running 24 miles, said he and his family had to walk an additional five miles before finally getting out of the city and thanked first responders, students and complete strangers for all their help.?The first responders were amazing,” said Catinazzo. “The National Guard guys were fantastic. And the students ? there are a lot of students in that BC, BU area and they were walking around with cases of water and Gatorade. One girl saw my kid crying and gave him a hug. Store owners opened their stores for people to get warm and get coffee. They were so good. It kind of restores your faith in humanity.”He said Monday was the first time in his life he’s ever seen his son afraid.?I got to him and he was visibly shaken,” said Catinazzo. “It’s very hard to see. This hit home. I’ve discussed 9-11 with him, which was a catastrophe of epic proportion ? This happened in our backyard. We were there and experienced it first hand. I explained it to him, but I have the same question: How could somebody do this? This is a fantastic day, one of the most unique days in the country ? But there are just bad people in this world that want to hurt people.”Catinazzo said Tuesday the rest of his marathon team has been accounted for, although he noted he wasn’t sure about their families.As he trained for Monday’s marathon, Catinazzo said he was planning on making it his last time running in the race. But a