April 15th, 2013 - Updated 04/16/2013

Boston marathon runner Alastair Stevenson says that before the explosions erupted at the Boston Marathon this morning, he was told by police over the loud speaker that bomb squads and bomb sniffing dogs were part of a ‘training exercise’. 

Stevenson, speaking with various news sources at the event, told one Alabama publication about what he witnessed during the race. While managing to finish the race before the explosions were in range of him or his bystander wife, Stevenson revealed some interesting information that makes sense of some discussion from earlier regarding bomb drills — which had been going on around the time of the actual explosions themselves and therefore may have confused police and emergency response.

In the article, Stevenson is recorded as saying:

“They kept announcing to runners not to be alarmed, that they were running a training exercise.”

In fact, the eyewitness runner says that there were already a major presence of bomb sniffing dogs and even a bomb squad.

RUNNER SAYS ‘BOMB SNIFFING DOGS, BOMB SQUAD ALREADY ON SCENE BEFORE EXPLOSIONS’

Likely due to the perceived drill that was set to go on right  before the actual explosion in the same area, the runner detailed how there was already a large presence of bomb sniffing dogs and even a bomb squad right nearby before the explosions hit. In fact, they had told the competitors and the fans that the buildup of bomb sniffing dogs and bomb squad personnel was simply a drill — until the explosions hit and real people were being injured and killed.

The numbers are not yet fully clear, but at least 20 were injured and at least 2 have died from the bombings.

These direct quotes by Stevenson, which have been captured via screenshot here in the event that the page is changed in any way or taken down, prove that the police were under the impression that the entire thing was a drill — at least initially. This may coincide with a tweet made by the Boston Globe, which was made during the explosions but does not specify what exactly it is discussing. Regardless, it appears that police were engaged in a ‘training exercise’ that requires the presence of a full bomb squad and bomb sniffing dogs. Were the police tipped off to the possibility of a bombing at the marathon?

One tweet from the Boston Globe which was put out after the explosions may has yet to be clarified, though it may be related. The tweet reads:

“BREAKING NEWS: Police will have controlled explosion on 600 block on Boylston Street”

http://www.storyleak.com/boston-marathon-runner-police-boston-explo...