George Fennell, a Hill Resident, Running in His Third in a Row Boston Marathan.

Hannah & Aaron Stanley, Headed for the Boston Marathon as Well.

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,273)

Two runners left  Munjoy Hill yesterday for the Boston Marathon on Monday, although only one of them is from the  Hill.  George Fennell, a resident of the Hill, has run in the Marathon for the past two years and 2015 will be his third year in a row he said yesterday morning.

Fennell said he ran in the Marathon two years ago when it was bombed by the two attackers, leaving three dead and more than two hundred injured. Fennell said he had just finished the race on Boylston Street when he heard the first bomb go off.  At first he didn’t know what had happened, although he knew it was “very, very significant.”  He saw smoke rising from the spot as well.  Fennell tried to use his cell phone to contact his brother but it wasn’t working.  They were supposed to meet nearby immediately following the completion of the Marathon.  But they were unable to communicate with their cell phones.  About an hour later they met up back at the Hotel in which they were staying.

Last year’s race in which he participated was a moving experience for Fennell. He runs in under four hours which is competitive time.  For the last four years, Finnell has also run in the Beach to Beacon race on Cape Elizabeth to support Joan Benoit Samuelson’s popular race.  Fennell, who is from central New Jersey, works at Idexx in Westbrook.

Cited on Fore Street were Hannah & Aaron Stanley, of Pittsburgh, Pa.  The couple was sight seeing in the area before heading to Boston so Aaron could run in the Marathon as well.

The 119th Boston Marathon is expected to have about 30,000 running in it.