Boston: She laughed. She wept. She walked. She ran. For amputee Adrianne Haslet, the Boston Marathon was a gruelling 10-hour odyssey.
But she finished. And Haslet, a professional ballroom dancer who lost her left leg in the 2013 finish line bombings, says conquering the course on a carbon-fibre blade was a giant leap forward toward reclaiming her life.
“It’s really emotional because I think of all the definitions that this finish line has held,” she said after limping across the line Monday night.
It was 26.2 miles of agonising ecstasy for Haslet, 35, of Boston, whose prosthesis dug painfully into her stump.
It began swelling and blistering around mile 7 after it accidentally got doused by a cup of water. By mile 14, she had to spend an hour in a medical tent, and wondered how she’d manage to reach Boylston Street.
“It was unbearably painful,” Haslet said on Tuesday in her first interview since completing the marathon.
“It was like an angry shoe,” she said, still hoarse from whooping up a storm during the race. “You don’t want to take off your shoe in mid-race and put it back on. You certainly don’t want to take off your leg and put it back on. I would crumble to the ground each time and say, ‘My God, I’m going to have to pull out of this race.’”
Anguished supporters who tracked Haslet’s slow progress on the Boston Athletic Association’s website thought the same.
In the end, her own steely determination — and the cheers, real and virtual, of people who lined the route and on social media — powered her to the same finish line where a bomb had left her shredded and bleeding three years earlier.
“People came out of their houses to cheer, shouting out of fourth-story windows,” she said. “I felt it not only from the crowd but from the other runners. It’s amazing to see the whole city come together like that.”
Among her fans was New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who posted on Facebook: “Two years ago I was lucky enough to meet Adrianne Haslet, a survivor of the 2013 Marathon bombings. She’s on the course now, running the race for the first time — with a prosthetic leg. Adrianne thank you for being my inspiration!!”
From President Barack Obama’s official account came this tweet at mid-race: “Thank you, Adrianne, for being Boston Strong. Terror and bombs can’t beat us. We carry on. We finish the race!”
Haslet dedicated her run to Limbs for Life, an Oklahoma City-based organisation that provides prostheses for amputees who can’t afford them.
In 2013, she was standing near the finish line cheering for the runners when she was injured by the second of two bombs planted among the crowds. Three people were killed and more than 260 others wounded in the attacks.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopians ran past the Kenyans on their way to the Boston finish line on Monday and nearly swept them off the victory podium.
Lemi Berhanu Hayle won the 120th edition of the men’s race, and Atsede Baysa overcame a 37-second deficit on the women’s side for Ethiopia’s first-ever sweep of the world’s most prestigious marathon.
Hayle finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds to beat defending champion Lelisa Desisa by 47 seconds. Yemane Tsegay was an additional 30 seconds back to round out an all-Ethiopian top three.
