Examples of people being awesome after the Boston Marathon explosions

This year's Boston Marathon will live long in the memory after the terrible scenes witnessed yesterday.

By Adrian Collins

It was a dark day for those who attended the Boston Marathon yesterday, one of the biggest days on the sporting calendar in New England.

The actions of some person or people turned what should have been a celebration into a disaster, and proved that, at the very least, there are a proportion of the population on the planet who wish to do no more than strike at innocent people to make a point that is in itself nullified by their taking the lives of others.

What served to further nullify the point of the attacks were the events after the explosions, when hundreds and thousands of people pulled together, and began the process of helping as many as they could, in any way that they could. Here are just some examples of the awesome and admirable behaviour of those people.

A lot of the people first on the scene were police officers and runners in the marathon, but as pictures show, a lot of them were running back towards the site of the explosions to give first aid or move people away from the blasts, without any thought as to their own well-being, like this police officer who was rescuing a child.

In this picture, you can see the police and marathon helpers turning to head towards the explosion and help

Former New England Patriots and Green Bay packers lineman Joe Andruzzi was also on hand, working with his cancer charity, to help victims get clear of the area.

The folks at Google jumped in to action and set up a people finder, so those who were worried about their loved ones, no matter where they were, could find them.

Local restaurants were offering food to those who were affected, on a “pay only if you can” basis. This is just one of many examples.

One of the iconic photos of the aftermath was the picture of 78-year-old Bill Iffrig, who had been knocked down by the blast. Well, he got up, and finished the race in 4:03:47, showing incredible spirit.

Comedian Patton Oswalt struck exactly the right chord with his inspirational message on Facebook after the events, and it already has nearly 250,000 likes

You can read the whole message and like it here

There were a few reports of people finishing the marathon and running straight to the hospital to give blood. So many volunteers showed up, that the red cross actually sent out a tweet saying they didn't need any more donations for the moment.

Ben Revere of the Philadelphia Phillies made a great gesture at his baseball game last night when he made a great catch, with this message on his glove.

Those who reacted, and those who did what they could to save lives will be, we hope, the abiding memory of this day, and not the tragic and violent actions of a tiny minority.

Hat-tip to BusinessInsider for the pics