Christie Cook got cold, so she didn’t hang around the finish line.

The 1993 Dowagiac Union High School graduate finished the 117th Boston Marathon in 3:45:29 — about 40 minutes before two bombs exploded.

 

“It’s hard to believe I crossed over that finish line” in the final hour of “pure joy” that grips the city on Patriots Day. “I’m grateful for that.”

 

“I don’t know that it will ever be the same,” the mother of three said Tuesday, driving the last leg home to Kalamazoo with her husband, Greg.

 

Cook, 38, a former Chieftain Marching Band drum major, only began running in January 2010.

 

Boston was her third and last marathon, she assured her family before tackling the “tough course.”

 

“I’d love to go back to Boston,” she said, clearly captivated by the atmosphere of spectators cheering everyone on she looked forward to “soaking in.”

 

“I would not stay away because I was fearful,” but she accomplished her goal.

 

While conditions were ideal for running, she said she felt cold in the wind as soon as she stopped, so instead of lingering at the finish line, headed to the warm hotel.

 

Otherwise, “I would have hung out,” Cook said.

 

Cook said she might have been on “The T” subway when the deadly blasts occurred within 15 seconds of each other.

 

“Greg went to get food and I was relaxing when my phone started getting messages,” she said.

 

Flipping on the television, “an unreal and heartbreaking” scene of carnage awaited in the bloody combat zone the finish line became.

Dowagiac Daily News