'LA Leggers' Runner: 'Our Hearts Go Out to Those That Weren't as Lucky'

Nearly a dozen runners from the Santa Monica-based running club "LA Leggers" who competed in the Boston Marathon are safe.

"Many members of our club ran in Boston today, and we are happy to report that all of them seem to have escaped injury (though perhaps not trauma)," an email sent to club members late Monday says.

Jennifer Fah, president of the running club, told NBCLA that she spent all of Monday trying to track down the runners, mostly using Facebook, Twitter and email.

In the email sent to club members, Jennifer Hartman shared her experience running with Renee Opell and Phil Kent.

Thank you everyone for thoughts and prayers. The story is Renee, Phil and I were on the homestretch. We had passed mile 26 and were probably at 26.1 when the first explosion occurred. We saw it all. We turned around and were going to go back when the explosion behind us occurred. At that point we stood in the middle for a moment holding hands and wondering if any more explosions were going to happen. After a minute we decided to go down a side street. Coincidentally we had stopped at mile 25 so Sharon Kent could take a picture of us. If she hadn't we would have probably been right on the finish line. I spoke to Lorraine 10 minutes ago and she had just just crossed the finished line. We knew she was ahead of us and were happy that she had made it okay. We assume all other Leggers are okay as they were either in front of us or behind us. Needless to say we are a little shell shocked. Our hearts go out to those that weren't as lucky.

The group plans to keep posting updates on the Leggers Facebook Page.

Follow coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings on Fenway-Kenmore Patch.

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