Nicholas Yanni of Boston was with his wife and friends watching another friend cross the finish line when the explosion occurred.

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He had crossed the finish line shortly before the explosion and was 120 yards away when it went off.

NPR: Loved Ones Seek Word On Boston Runners After Blast

Aaron Hern, an 11-year-old from California, was getting ready to cheer his mother Monday as she neared the finish line when the first explosion struck.

WSJ: The Faces of Tragedy

She was about 30 yards from the finish line when she heard the first explosion.

NPR: The Finish Line: What The Bombing Was Like

The strike sparked a huge explosion that engulfed vehicles that had been waiting in line.

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"I had just run to the finish line and like 30 seconds later I heard the first explosion, and then turned around and saw the smoke, " he said.

NPR: Marathon Runner Witnesses Double Disasters

They get the fireball, or several of them, pounded into their skulls by an overplayed TV commercial, and entire families tear out of the house like the explosion's gonna spoil if they're not the first in line to confront it.

CNN: 'Lethal Weapon 4': Saying nothing, but loudly

Running toward the finish line, Erik Savage turned and ducked when he heard the second explosion.

NPR: The Finish Line: What The Bombing Was Like

And the bottom line is that once we got past the news of a third explosion at the Japanese nuclear facility in Fukushima and word that radiation levels were rising, the news was actually pretty good for the remainder of the day.

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