Boston Marathon: Local runners saw changes, adapted, and triumphed

BOSTON – North Shore runners were well represented in the 118th Boston Marathon Monday. Participating in the first Marathon since the terror attacks of last year, they discussed the changes they experienced in 2014, such as increased spectators and security. In general, they had praise for the way the Marathon was managed.Security, start to finishEven before they toed the starting line, runners sensed the changes in security.”Going into the corral in the morning, I thought it was the airport,” said Ellen Goldberg of Nahant. “They checked you with an electronic wand, up and down, to get into (the corral). Up and down, all over your body. It was not intrusive, but what I understand is a standard security check.””Prior to the run, all the police and firefighters got together and there was Mass,” said Karen DiLisio of Lynn. “I went to the village, took it all in. I felt really safe. (There were) policemen galore. Military. Dogs, everything. I felt very safe.””There were helicopters, National Guard, state police, even police academies from different towns,” said Mike Derby of Lynn. “They were all out there.””There was a chopper overhead,” Goldberg recalled. “Clearly there was a very impressive and concerted effort on behalf of the authorities. They did their best to make sure it would never happen again.””As far as getting onto buses, you had to go through a section where they checked your bib,” said Revere native and Lynn resident Laura Padolsky.Security rules also tightened the number of people who could watch at certain points. Derby’s wife and their two sons, for instance, were unable to join him for the home stretch on Boylston Street, as they had done in the past.”Down Boylston, my family couldn’t get there,” he said. “There was such a crowd, they were not letting more people in.”Terrific turnoutMarathoners enjoyed a vocal and supportive crowd that showed up to watch the return of a Boston institution after the tragic events of last year.”There was not a silent moment,” DiLisio said. “From Hopkinton to the finish line. (There was) no lull. Everything was loud. And it just kept you going. (They were) screaming your name. (It was) phenomenal.””The crowds were exactly what they said they’d be,” said Derby, calling them “huge.”Padolsky had some very specific signs of encouragement. The Salem State alumnae, who currently works for Pioneer Investments and runs for the Home for Little Wanderers, is getting married on Saturday. Her fiance, Andrew Dunn, was there with his father to cheer her on from Wellesley and at the finish line. Dunn’s father held a sign that read, “Go Laura Dunn.””I think his dad’s excited,” Padolsky said.One year laterNorth Shore runners were among those affected by the bombings last year.Derby and his running partner, Terry O’Brien of Wakefield, did not get to finish the 2013 Marathon after law enforcement officials halted the race following the bombings. That week, Derby’s son Michael Jr. learned that accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been one of his classmates at UMass-Dartmouth. Tsarnaev faces a 30-count indictment; his older brother, alleged bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died during a police manhunt on April 19, 2013.DiLisio and Goldberg were also unable to finish last year. DiLisio was stopped shortly after Mile 25, Goldberg was stopped shortly before.This year, DiLisio said, “(The) best part was coming from Brookline to Boston. Coming into my hometown. Boston. The fans were out of control. I started to cry. For no reason.”(There were) so many people. (They were) so warm. Boston Strong all the way.” Screaming your name. High-fiving everybody.”As Goldberg approached the place where she had been stopped last year, she said, “I was OK. I got to it, passed it, then the oddest thing. I started having trouble breathing. I wondered, ‘What’s going on? What’s happening?’ Clearly, I’m pretty sure, it had to have been an anxiety reaction.”It was like a bird in my neck, a fluttering creature, all of a sudden, beating i