Brutal. Senseless. Horrific.

The adjectives come quickly in the aftermath of Monday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Three people are dead, including an eight-year-old boy. Others, including the boy’s mother and sister, sustained severe injuries. Some spectators had legs or feet blown off in the blast.

If we think about it, we realize that horrible, senseless things happen to good people every day in this large country. People are killed in car or industrial accidents. Innocent 13-year-olds are accidentally killed by gunfire exchanged by rival gangs.

The work of a terrorist is to make sure horrible things happen in a place or fashion that makes us collectively recoil in horror. The terrorist wants to instill fear in as many people as possible.

Monday’s bombing was well planned to do just that. The video cameras were in perfect position to see the elated faces of hundreds of people instantly twisted in confusion and fear.

There were news photographers collected on the spot, plus dozens of people taking videos and photos, preparing for their loved ones to cross the finish line.

It was a well-planned media event.

But there is something the terrorists never count on — the inspirational response of ordinary people, police and first-responders to the carnage.

Within seconds, they were rushing toward the blast without regard for their own safety, determined to aid the many injured people.

Several spectators and soldiers in uniform pulled away the barriers with superhuman strength to allow doctors and nurses to reach the injured and dying.

Other people could be seen bent over the faces of the victims or applying compresses to their bloody wounds.

Others were loading injured people onto wheelchairs and racing them away to ambulances parked at the scene, or to the medical tent set up for runners.

We saw the cowardly act of one or two people confidently confronted by the bravery of many.

And then there was the inspirational story of 78-year-old marathoner Bill Iffrig of Washington State, veteran of 45 marathons, who was running by just as the bomb went off.

“I got down to within 15 feet of the finishing apron and just a tremendous explosion, sounded like a bomb went off right next to me,” Iffrig later said. “The shock waves just hit my whole body and my legs just started jittering around. I knew I was going down and so I ended up down on the blacktop.”

Eventually, reports say, Iffrig got up and wobbled to the finish line with the persistence of a true marathon runner.

We have been told for years that the war against terrorists will be a marathon, and that we must show patience and determination.

Our determination will be expressed by a relentless search for the person or persons behind this attack.

We will obtain our inspiration from the many people like Bill Iffrig who, when knocked down, get back up and move forward, unafraid and determined to prevail.

rrhoades@sunjournal.com

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