Peterborough: Boston Marathon Runner

16 April 2013, 13:53 | Updated: 16 April 2013, 14:12

A man from Peterborough, who took part in the Boston Marathon, has spoken of his ordeal following two explosions in the American city.

Mark Hazlehurst, from Orton Waterville in Peterborough, is currently staying in a hotel around 100 yards from where the explosions took place.

Three people were killed and around 140 injured in the blasts.

Mark told Heart: "There were around three or four thousand runners backed up just to the north of where the finish is.

The amount of information we were given was pretty limited.

I had my phone with me, and noticed a missed call from my wife.

So I called her, and she told me the extent of the problem, and that was the first time I realised just how serious the incident had been.

As news started to get out about just how serious the incident had been, the mood turned from one of being disappointed about not crossing the finish line, to one of absolute disbelief of what had happened.

Quite a lot of people were quite worried because they couldn't find friends or relatives.

Last night I sat with some runners, and we were all just in complete disbelief.

Hopefully I will be back in Boston next year, to show my support for the people here.

Boston is a great city, and there is a great marathon here.

My thoughts are with the friends and family of those people who didn't get home safely last night."

Pictures taken from Twitter / @Runner_Mark