News
Bottineau native ran in tragic Boston Marathon
Tyler Ohmann
04/23/2013
A Bottineau High School graduate was one of the more than 27,000 people that ran the Boston Marathon last Monday, but perhaps the bigger story is that she wasn’t one of the more than 170 who were injured at the marathon.
Maureen (Coleman) Selzler, a native of Bottineau, was already in her hotel when the blasts near the finish line of the Boston Marathon happened, thanks to a personal record marathon run.
Selzler, who now lives in Glen Carbon, Ill., a town across the river from St. Louis, Mo., crossed the finish line at 2:25 p.m. eastern time, finishing the marathon in three hours, six minutes.
“I was ecstatic, and my husband knew too, because it was my personal record,” Selzler said. “I ran a marathon in 2003 and I ran a 3:11 (hours, minutes), so I was extremely excited to break that.”
Afterward Selzler and her husband left the finishing area and went back to their hotel, which was about two miles from the finish line.
She was exhausted and wanted to relax, but she was also on cloud nine.
“I was talking to my husband right after the race about how wonderful the race was,” Selzler said. “You could tell that it was part of their culture, and the crowd support throughout the entire race was amazing.”
“From little kids to college kids, to parents cheering and the little kids had oranges in their hands, and it was the camaraderie and the environment of the marathon was fantastic. It was the best I’d ever experienced,” Selzler added.
Then she got a cryptic text, shortly after two explosions rocked the marathon at about 3 p.m., a little more than a half hour after Selzler left the area.
“One of my coworkers had texted me, and it said ‘are you still alive?’ and I figured he was just being silly,” Selzler said. “I figured he was wondering how I did and if I had survived the marathon, so I didn’t get a hint from that.”
Selzler then proceeded to text the coworker back, and she said that from that he could tell she didn’t know what was going on.
“He texted me back and said, ‘you know two bombs went off right?,’” Selzler said. “We turned on the TV and sure enough there was breaking news and they called them explosions at that point.”
Selzler and her husband, Chris, quickly pulled out their camera, which had pictures of her near the finish line.
“We looked at each other and were like, ‘oh my gosh, we were just there,’” Selzler said. “My husband (Chris) actually got a couple of pictures of me and he was standing across the street from the second bomb location.”
In the pictures were not only Selzler and the group of runners who finished by her, but also included in the photos were the storefronts that were being projected on their TV screen in the hotel room.
“It (the picture) just kind of put it in perspective,” Selzler said. “Wow, we were right down there, and he (my husband) was right across the street.”
They never heard the bombs go off.
“It really was a nice experience, but it was really sad that it had to end that way,” Selzler said. “Because there were so many people that trained so hard, and when they get the chance to go to Boston, it is a great feeling.”
Selzler is the daughter of Loretta Wall of Bottineau and Keith Coleman of McVille, N.D. and is a 1999 graduate of BHS and a 2004 graduate of the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.
Wall never had to worry about her daughter, which she is thankful for. As soon as she heard about the explosions, she got a reassuring text.
“As soon as I had heard about it, she was telling me she was all right,” Wall said. “She texted me ‘mom, if you’ve heard about this, I’m OK.’”
“I didn’t have time to get thinking, and it was a good thing that way,” Wall added.
Selzler qualified in a race in 2011 in St. Louis. She originally wanted to run in the 2012 Boston Marathon, but it was full, which is why she ran this year.
“There is a level of prestige that comes with running the Boston Marathon, since you have to qualify for it,” Selzler said. “I just thought well, I have to start training, get requalified and go run it.”
Selzler might never run in the Boston Marathon again, but she said it wouldn’t be because of what happened, and she hasn’t ruled running again out as of yet.
“As far as deterring me from running in Boston I would say no,” Selzler said. “I may never run Boston again, you never can tell, but if the occasion arises, I don’t think I’d be deterred because of this.”
“Boston will go on I’m sure,” Selzler continued. “It is a very old marathon and it’s part of their culture, everything is shut down as far as stores and schools and it’s a tradition to get out on that course and cheer the runners on.”
That culture was shaken last Monday as the event was on the world stage for a different reason. Selzler relishes in the fact that she has good memories from her experience, unlike hundreds who were affected by two terrorists.