A FATHER has spoken of his relief at being home safe after taking part in the Boston Marathon.
Gavin Rochussen from Cobham crossed the finish line an hour before two bomb blasts tore through spectators and competitors.
The bombings on Monday killed three people and injured more than 170.
"Luckily I had no family there supporting me. I spent the whole weekend missing them and wishing they were there," said Mr Rochussen, who returned to his Leigh Hill Road home yesterday morning.
"If they had been there we probably would have spent time at the finish line watching the runners and may well still have been there when the explosions went off."
The chief executive of an asset and fund management company said his wife and three sons had not been able to join him because two of his children are currently revising for GCSE and AS Level exams.
As he was alone, Mr Rochussen walked the 5km back to his hotel straight away and spent two hours in the spa, warming down after the race.
He returned to his room to hundreds of concerned messages on his phone.
"These things happen for a reason," the 53-year-old said.
"I have been grappling with what happened since I got back. You just cannot understand it. It's absolutely irreconcilable and unforgivable."
Mr Rochussen crossed the finish lane at 1:44pm, before the first explosion at the site went off at around 2:50pm.
"When I went back into the main part of the hotel all the other runners were coming back.
"I had met a lot of them that morning. We all met at 6am and got taxis together to the start line.
"There was one lady there from Canada who started in the third group, about an hour behind me.
"She was back at the hotel when I came from the spa. She literally crossed the finish line 2 minutes before the explosions.
"She said to me she almost walked the last hill. If she had done that she would have been two or three minutes slower and she would have been right there."
Mr Rochussen, who is originally from South Africa, has lived in Cobham for seven years.
He is now due to run the London Marathon on Sunday which will be his 37th marathon. This was the first time he had participated in the Boston race, but he said he would return next year.
"I think the London Marathon will be good. I don't know if they can do anything more on top of what they normally do in terms of security.
"I might run in my Boston Marathon kit in memory of those who lost their lives.
"I'm looking forward to it. It's fantastic every year. I just hope there are no security issues."
Mr Rochussen's wife Nicky has also spoken of her relief at hearing her husband was safe.
"We spoke to him as soon as he finished so we knew he had crossed the line," she said.
"But then after the explosions there was a couple of hours when I couldn't get hold of him. I think the network went down.
"It was quite worrying for a while and we had all our friends and family texting us and asking if he was OK. It was a big relief when we heard from him."
Mr Rochussen will be running the London Marathon on Sunday with two others from his firm J O Hambro Capital Management for Whizz-Kidz, a charity which provides mobility for disabled children.
Sponsor the three runners at http://www.justgiving.com/HambroHarriers2013.
