Glenview Teacher Unharmed In Boston Marathon

Getting painful leg cramps at mile 14 in the Boston Marathon may have saved Susan Zimmer's life.

Zimmer, a teacher at Westbrook School in Glenview District 34, made it to the 25.7 mile point, and was starting to see runners walking back, which made her wonder why they were going in the wrong direction.

The Morton Grove resident said Monday night from Boston that she ran on pace the first half of the marathon, but the leg cramps forced her to walk for awhile during the second half.

"Had I continued on pace, it might have put me right there at the wrong time," she said, referring to the bomb blasts at the finish line which killed at least three people and wounded more than 100.

Earlier: Glenview Runners In Boston Marathon

"They actually blocked the road about a half mile to the finish," she said. "You could not go anywhere. People just sort of milled around trying to get information. Nobody knew why we were stopping.

"It was kind of surreal."

Husband was on subway

Rumors quickly spread that there had been explosions, and Zimmer began to worry about her husband, who had been taking the subway to meet her when she finished the race.

Boston residents who lived along the race course could not have been kinder, she said. They brought out snacks, water and blankets for runners and offered the use of their cell phones.

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"People were coming out of their houses asking, 'are you ok?', 'do you need anything?," she said. "Tragedy brings out the good in people."

Trying to meet in family meeting area

She texted her husband to tell him she was OK, and eventually learned his subway train did not stop near the finish line but continued down two stops, where he was able to get off and walk back to the area where family members were supposed to meet the runners.

"He had no idea what happened until people started calling him and asking, 'are you ok?'" Zimmer said.

"Three hours later we finally found each other."

Streets closed, suspicious packages examined

It took hours for the runners to get their gear bags back, because the buses carrying them had to be re-routed. 

"There were emergency personnel everywhere, constant sirens, police, helicopters all over the place," she said. "They kept closing streets because there would be a suspicious package. So you had to wait."

Still, Zimmer credits emergency personnel and marathon organizers with doing a great job under the circumstances. They used appropriate caution, she said, even shutting down mobile phone service at one point because of fear a phone call could detonate a bomb.

The Zimmers were staying with her cousin, and the cousin's husband who drove over to pick them up had to park miles away because of the street closures, then walk in to find the couple. They didn't get back to the cousin's house until 8 p.m. Eastern time; the bombs had gone off around 3 p.m.

When she finally got her gear bag back, her cell phone, which was inside, had lots of messages and texts from people wanting to know if she was OK.

She was OK, and thankful for it.

"It's just a senseless tragedy," she said, reflecting that she could have been in the middle of it.

The Zimmers plan to return to Chicago Tuesday.