Shoreline Runners Stand Together After Boston Terror

The following post was written and reported by Lauren Lanzon.

On Saturday mornings, runners from the Shoreline gather at SoundRunner in Branford for their weekly 3 or 5 mile group run. But this Saturday’s run was particularly special to participants. That’s because the run was dedicated to the victims of the Boston Bombings.

“We wanted to put something together that showed we stand in solidarity with our fellow runners who ran the Boston Marathon and the victims of this tragedy,” Preston Ranton, General Manager of SoundRunner, told Guilford Patch Saturday morning. “As a community, we wanted to stand together, which is why we held today’s run.”

About 40 runners turned out on Saturday morning to dedicate their miles in the group’s BostonStrong run. Several runners participated in the Marathon this year. Both Bruce Beebe, of Madison, and Karen Febbraio, of Guilford, were in close range when the explosions started, but luckily were far enough away to be out of harm’s way. 

Ranton himself had been in Boston the day before the Marathon, but had headed home Sunday night.

“My mom was there that day,” he continued. “But thankfully, she was a few blocks away at a restaurant when the explosions went off.”

The SoundRunner store also has special ties to the tragedy since Marathon Sports, who recently acquired SoundRunner, is located right at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the first explosion occurred. 

“As runners, we are all part of a family, and this had a great impact on us,” continued Ranton. “We will continue to stand together after this tragedy.”

The GM explained that they've encouraged folks to donate blood via email blasts after the attack, and hope to sell t-shirts in the coming weeks to benefit The One Fund, which was established by Boston's Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick immediately following the Marathon bombing for the victims of the tragedy.