First Boston Marathon Is Where Paths Cross In Runner's Life

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Laura Gordon was shaken by the news that her brother-in-law and sister were both along the Boston Marathon course when two bombs went off near the finish line last year.

While, three people were killed and hundreds more were injured, her family turned out to be OK.

But she was moved by the chaos and the manhunt that followed the bombings. Now she's preparing to run the Boston Marathon herself for the first time.

She knows full well the emotions that will be stirred when runners pound the pavement next Monday.

"It's going to be overwhelming," she said.

But that's not the only reason she's going. Gordon is also running for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to honor her mother's current battle against the disease.

"If she can make it through this cancer, and the surgery and the back and forth to the doctor's appointments, I can finish my first Boston for her," she said.

She knows running in Boston is an honor for any runner in any year, but this year is more significant.

"People are ready to finish this," she said. "Not necessarily closure, but unity on what they believe in."