The runner in a in a widely circulated photograph pictured knocked onto his back by the explosion at the Boston Marathon Monday was uninjured by the blast, local Washington state paper The Herald reported.
The man, 78-year-old Bill Iffrig of Lake Stevens, Wa., came away with just a scrape on his knee.
“It was a close one though, boy. I’ll tell you, that scared me,” Iffrig told The Herald.
Iffrig took up running in the late 1970s to stay in shape for another of his passions — mountain climbing. Although his climbing eventually tapered off, Iffrig continued to run.
A race official helped Iffrig to his feet after the blast and he walked the remaining 12 feet to the finish line.
