Marathon volunteers thanked with Revs tix

Canton residents Pat and Steve Cohen spent the evening of April 27 with two of their grandchildren at a New England Revolution game against the team from Pat’s hometown, the Philadelphia Union. The Cohens had attended the game as the guests of Revolution owner Robert Kraft, who wanted to thank them and other Boston Athletic Association volunteers for their efforts on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and injuring more than 200 others.

Pat and Steve Cohen

Pat, a dental hygienist and assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and Steve, a dentist, became marathon volunteers five years ago. Each year they have been assigned to a family meet-up area, where family members meet their runner at the end of the race. There is a designated area for each letter of the alphabet, with letters hanging on street poles. The Cohens are assigned to area C, which is on Stuart Street. Their location is about a block and a half beyond the marathon finish line.

The Cohens are part of a team that helps family members and runners in two ways. Runners are given computer chips that track their location during the race, provided that they are on the marathon route. Family members can check at the corresponding kiosk, where volunteers have laptops, to find where their runner is on the course and at approximately what time they will finish.

Pat Cohen explained that once the runners finish the race, they may need to rehydrate or be checked in the medical tent before finding their families. That process can take as long as an hour.

Volunteers also assist the runners when they finish the race. Steve grew up in Boston and helps both local and out-of-town participants find their way around the city when the race is over.

“When someone comes in and asks how to get somewhere, everyone looks at me,” Steve said. “I can direct them and give them helpful information.”

There are two medical tents at the end of the course, one at Dartmouth and Boylston streets and the other at Clarendon and Boylston. When the first bomb exploded shortly before 3 p.m. on April 15, Pat was at one of the tents with the father of one of the runners. They found his daughter in the tent, suffering from serious leg cramps and having trouble walking. Steve was at the family meet-up area.

“We heard two loud booms,” Pat recalled.

“I looked up at the sky,” said Steve. “It sounded like lightening.” At first things seemed to be normal, so the Cohens continued with their work, answering questions and helping runners who needed attention. Fairly quickly, Steve heard ambulance sirens and then saw two ambulances heading northbound on Clarendon, which is a one-way street going southbound. He also received a phone call.

“My brother-in-law called from Pennsylvania,” he said. “He asked, ‘You guys okay?’” His brother-in-law had been watching the race on television. It was through that phone call that Pat and Steve learned that bombs had gone off just blocks from where they were.

Within the next 15 minutes, the situation changed quickly as the Cohens began to help runners searching for family members and family members searching for runners. Some needed information, some needed an aluminum wrap to ward off a chill, and some just needed a hug.

Boylston Street memorial

“When you’re wearing the volunteer jacket, you have the freedom to approach people,” Pat explained. “We gave them real tender loving comfort. Everyone took the high road in helping each other. It was a tribute to humanity.”

Eventually police officers came to the family meet-up areas and told the volunteers that they had to leave their computer equipment behind and evacuate the area. The Cohens made their way to the Back Bay commuter rail station and took a train back to Canton.

In the weeks since the bombings, support and counseling was offered to volunteers by the Boston Athletic Association, Tufts University, and Weight Watchers International. The Cohens did not use the services. However, on a visit to the marathon memorial in Copley Plaza, they saw a number of volunteers wearing their jackets and spoke with them.

“It was nice to talk to them,” Pat said. “Everyone has stories.”

Robert Kraft provided six tickets for each volunteer. There was a video memorial tribute before the game. “It was very touching,” Pat said. New England won the game over Philadelphia 2-0.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on May 9 2013. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.