Inspired Soles

132. Cassandra Bonn | Boston Marathon Bombing Reflections

• Carolyn Coffin and Kim Senechal • Episode 132

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In honour of the 10 year anniversary of the Boston bombings, we’ve decided to re-air our conversation with Cassandra Bonn, who ran the marathon on that fateful day back in 2013.

Cassandra is 47 year old Account and Sales Executive with Quinte Broadcasting in Belleville ON. She took up running in her early 30s and even though her two children were young at the time, she went all in on training to the point that she qualified for the Boston Marathon. In 2013 with her husband, children and mother in the crowd, she absolutely nailed her first crack at Boston in a net time of 3:34:46. After collecting her medal and belongings, she was walking rather gingerly towards the family meetup area when the two bombs went off. What followed was utter chaos as she and thousands of others tried to make sense of what had happened and flee to safety. Cassandra walks us through the range of emotions she felt from confusion to terror as she reunited with her family and left the gridlocked city. It’s been 10 years but the sound of emergency vehicles can still trigger a visceral response in her today. 


Cassandra didn’t allow her Boston experience to be defined by that tragedy. The following year in 2014, she and her husband were two of the over 35,000 Boston Strong runners who made the trek from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, crossing the finish line hand in hand. 

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