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For 116 years, the world's most fabled footrace - Boston Marathon - had withstood all that nature could bring - snow, rain, heat and cold.
But the twisted hand of man brought a dramatic halt to it yesterday as twin explosions ripped through the cheering crowd killing three, including an 8-year-old, while injuring over 140 injured.
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in Greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts.
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Begun in 1897, inspired by the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors.
For 116 years, the footrace had been a place of celebration, where hundreds of thousands of runners were cheered by millions.
"Their macadam mecca was the final stretch along Boylston, where the overhead clock confirmed their personal victories and hugs and handshakes from friends and family waited beyond," the Boston Globe said.
This time, it was a place of blood and horror and chaos as the blasts, suspected to have been carried out by home-grown terrorists, went off.
Except for the customary blisters and cramps, the runners were fine. The unfortunate souls were those who had come to urge them across the line and who just happened to be standing in a deadly spot, the Globe said.
Most of the runners - more than 17,500 - already had finished. But more than 5,500 of them never got to cross the line.
They were either told to keep going down Commonwealth Avenue or were stopped before they ever reached Boston.
