PARMA, Ohio -- As Parma Council President Sean Brennan crossed the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon -- the second since the 2013 bombing that killed three people -- he said it was an emotional experience.
"I was moved to tears," Brennan said. "It was a really emotional moment, seeing the American flag in the spot where the bomb went off in 2013."
Two hundred and sixty people were also injured in the explosion. The trial, where a jury will decide whether convicted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be put to death, was put on hold during Monday's race.
Brennan, 45, crossed the finish line of the famous race at 3 hours and 41 minutes, "a little slower" than his personal best, but he said he decided to just run take in the scene of Boston, which he'd never visited before.
"The weather conditions weren't the best, and I knew I wasn't going to set any records," he said. "So I decided to just enjoy it."
Boston was his 37th marathon since he started running in 2009 after making a New Year's resolution to get healthy. He qualified to join the nearly 32,000 runners after finishing Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon last spring with a time of 3:15.
"If you would have asked me a year and a half ago if I would have seen myself running the Boston Marathon in 2015, I would have said no," he said.
Brennan runs around Parma five days a week, usually averaging 35 miles a week, saying he's pretty much "marathon ready all the time." He's running one next week and another the following week in Pittsburgh.
Brennan said he can't wait to run in the Boston Marathon again.
"Everybody was so excited to be running the Boston Marathon," he said. "People are always excited at marathons but this was on another level."
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