Bravo, Bill Iffrig! Home Town Hero Got Knocked Down and Kept Running in Boston

Bill Iffrig on the cover of Sports Illustrated

Not many old guys are as fast as me.
It was only 5 feet away from me.

I’ll tell you, that scared me.

– Bill Iffrig

Bill Iffrig is 78 years old. Yesterday he ran his third Boston Marathon and finished second in his division with a time of 44 minutes, 48 seconds after getting knocked down by the force of the bomb blast. He told KOMO (Seattle’s ABC affiliate) news:

I had just come around the last corner, heading for the finish line. I was within 15 feet of the finish line and all the sudden this blast went off, and oh my God it was so loud.

I didn’t even have time to think about what it was about. My whole body started getting woozy and my legs were wobbling and I knew I was going to hit the deck.

I was pretty sure it was a bomb of some sort. I was pretty sure of that, but I had no idea it was terrorism. I didn’t have time to think about it, I guess.

Mr. Iffrig has run 46,000 miles and 40 marathons in his lifetime. He’s a retired mason who lives in Lake Stevens, WA with his wife Donna. On Monday, the iconic photo of Mr. Iffrig will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Chris Stone, the managing editor said:

We felt it truly captured the horrific moment at the end of the race.