Campus News

Bethel student recounts anxiety over friend in Boston Marathon

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When the bombs went off in Boston, Bethel senior Claudia Pedraza’s mind immediately turned to David Dodd, a friend of hers that was running the marathon this year. She met Dodd while serving tables at the Pancake House on the weekends. Dodd, who supported Pedraza as she trained for a five kilometer run for a Bethel class, ran the marathon this year and brought his daughter and son, 18- and 17-years-old respectively, to support him. The weekend before the race, he’d talked with Pedraza, expressing his excitement to compete. But when Pedraza arrived home after classes, she flipped on the television in the kitchen as she made dinner, and heard “Breaking news from Boston!” She watched the news footage in horror. “My heart dropped,” Pedraza said, “I called a friend from work named Nicole to see if she had any information. Dave was not answering and the phone circuits were down. At that point we had no way of knowing, all we could do was wait.  I began praying and asked you all at Bethel to help.” When Dodd did arrive home, he posted a message on his Facebook, according to Pedraza. It read as follows, “Just got home from Boston. Will be a Marathon I will never forget. I finished about 23 minutes before the bombs went off. So the kids and I was in the subway catching a train. We found out when we tryed to catch our connecting train. They said the subway was closed, and we had to get out of the subway. So we walked for about 5 miles before some lady offered us a ride to the hotel. My time was 3:46:40. For that course I was happy. Take care, thanks for all the prayers. “ Pedraza said she will “see him this weekend to talk with him.” For the latest on the events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings, read the following story by the Associated Press: http://beacon.bethelcollege.edu/?p=8108
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