A REIGATE policeman was running the Boston Marathon when two explosions went off, killing three and injuring 170 others.
Just 45 minutes from completing the run, Dave Evans was ushered away from the course along with other confused runners without knowing two bombs had ripped through crowds of spectators, marshals, and competitors.
Shortly before 3pm local time on Monday, as thousands of runners were still on the 26.2 mile course, two explosions close to the finishing line caused devastation among the amassed crowd.
Mr Evans, 30, who escaped unscathed, says he first learned of the attack from the reaction of those around him.
"I saw an army guy by the road receive a phone call," Mr Evans told the Mirror from his hotel in Boston.
"It went on for about 10 seconds and I thought that was a bit weird, then a couple of police bikes went screaming past.
"A mile or so on I got word there had been something serious happen at the finish line and they were cancelling the race.
"I thought if they're going to cancel the race I'm going to get as far as I can."
At the 21-mile mark Mr Evans was pulled from the course and ushered into a nearby church where all the runners were being brought together.
With mobile phones not working properly, the runners were left desperately searching for information and trying – often in vain – to contact loved ones.
Mr Evans, who is based at Reigate police station, was among those whose initial message home did not get through. It left his girlfriend Kelly fearing the worst.
"I thought I had texted my girlfriend to tell her I was alright," he said.
"When I was in the church about three hours later I took the sensible measure of borrowing a phone and phoned her.
"She was in tears because she had never received the text and had been trying to contact me.
"She tried to track my GPS on my phone, but that had died, and the GPS system with the marathon chips was down.
"We hadn't even officially been told there had been an explosion – some people got the internet on their phone and found out."
Once the roads were reopened the runners were escorted back to their hotels and Mr Evans was scheduled to fly home yesterday (Wednesday).
Mr Evans said the mood in the city plummeted after the blast.
"There was such a buzz during the race," he said.
"As soon as this happened the mood dropped massively."
He added: "It hasn't really sunk in yet I don't think. I haven't really registered that I was a few miles away from something terrible or from serious injury."
