‘Thank God she’s fast’

Posted on April 17, 2013

When two explosions ripped through the crowds at the finish line of Monday’s Boston Marathon, the news struck close to home for former Taylor County resident Lydia Veal, who had just finished the race about an hour before and still had friends running.

“I was already back at my hotel which was about a mile from the finish,” said Veal, who was on her way home Tuesday. “I was there with my running group from Jacksonville, and we had about 15-20 runners running.

PHOTO: Lydia Veal, who was Taylor County’s 1998 Florida Forest Festival Junior Miss, completed the Boston Marathon in three hours, 12 minutes…less than an hour before the first bomb exploded near the finish line.

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