This is the written and filmed story, summarized by the Globe Staff and published on April 28, 2013, of the tragic events that took place during the Marathon (April 15) and the five following days
For five indelible days, the unthinkable became routine in Boston. And no one felt that more than the police and agents mounting the largest manhunt in regional history and parsing its most complex crime scene. It took a cast of thousands — also courage, sacrifice, teamwork, and luck — to crack the case. But they did it.
A quiet afternoon in his garden beckoned as Governor Deval Patrick left the finish line of the Boston Marathon. After crowning the men’s and women’s winners with wreaths of laurel, he headed home to Milton around 1 p.m., looking forward to working in the dirt.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis stayed at the race until 1:30. He was watching runners cross the finish line, but also surveying security measures at America’s oldest and most famous road race, including teams of dogs and more than 1,000 uniformed officers and soldiers.
Be vigilant,” Davis told them in parting as he headed home to Hyde Park, to join a conference call on gun control convened by Vice President Joe Biden.
It seemed like a perfect day. The Red Sox won at Fenway. A bright sun shone. A glorious holiday, when nothing could go wrong… . MORE
One week ago
— at approximately 2:50 p.m. on Monday, just over four hours into the race — the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. This image, taken from the NBC broadcast of the race, shows the flash of the explosion and the final split-second of normalcy before the area turned into what witnesses described as a war zone. Here are the stories of the runners and spectators seen in this image.
Uma Sanghvi for The New York Times
Katie Carmona, 44, lawyer, Austin, Tex.
In front of us, there was a flash of glass and smoke that came across where we were walking on the sidewalk.
Ms. Carmona and her husband, Paul, work on the organizing committee of the Austin Marathon. She ran the Boston Marathon in 2011, but this year was supporting Paul, who was raising money for Champions for Children to aid sick children in central Texas. Despite their proximity to the blast, she and her friend, Amy Berti, were barely injured… more
One week ago 
— at approximately 2:50 p.m. on Monday, just over four hours into the race — the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. This image, taken from the NBC broadcast of the race, shows the flash of the explosion and the final split-second of normalcy before the area turned into what witnesses described as a war zone. Here are the stories of the runners and spectators seen in this image.