WBUR Oral History Project: Shane O'Hara

O'Hara, Shane (Interviewee)

O'Brien, Joanna Shea (Interviewer)
Girdharry, Kristi (Recordist)
McDonough, Ryan (Contributor)

English

March 11, 2014

Sound recording

Interviews
Oral histories (document genres)

Sound Recording

born digital

Countless lives were affected by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath. The WBUR Oral History Project collects stories from individuals whose lives were immediately and irrevocably changed by these events. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of WBUR, our team of oral historians, and the participation of these interview subjects, Our Marathon has tried to ensure that these stories are not forgotten. We believe that these stories matter, and that they demonstrate the ways historical events transform the lives of the people who lived through them. Oral historians Jayne K. Guberman, Ph.D., and Joanna Shea O'Brien conducted the interviews for this project. Oral History Project Manager Kristi Girdharry, Our Marathon Project Co-Director Jim McGrath, and Community Outreach Lead Joanne DeCaro recorded the interviews and provided research assistance and post-interview processing. McGrath and Our Marathon Audio Technician Ryan McDonough provided sound editing and processing for all of the interviews and clips. The opinions and statements expressed in interviews and related content featured in the WBUR Oral History Project do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Our Marathon, WBUR, Northeastern University, or any employees or volunteers affiliated with these institutions and projects. Our Marathon and The WBUR Oral History project make no assertions about the veracity of statements made by participants in this project. Shane O'Hara grew up in Otego, a small town in Upstate New York. His father and his uncles were dairy farmers, and he spent his childhood on a dairy farm mostly playing outdoors with his three older siblings. Shane played year round sports-football, basketball, baseball and volleyball-but he never thought of himself as a runner. After having a positive professional experience for a major retailer in New York, he decided to move to Boston to be closer to his brother and sister. Because of his love of sports, he ended up applying for a retail job at Marathon Sports in Cambridge, MA in April of 1994. He became friends with Colin Peddie, owner of Marathon Sports, and found his calling in the world of running shoes and sports retail within the Boston running community. Even though Shane doesn't consider himself a distance runner, he completed the Boston Marathon with a relatively good time and now leads weekly runs with a local Boston running club that meets at Marathon Sports. In his oral history, Shane talks about Marathon Sports' prime location at the finish line on Boylston Street, his typical workday, what it's like leading up to the Boston Marathon every year, and marathon day itself. He vividly describes the bombings that took place directly outside of the store and how he and his staff tried to help people who were severely injured and disoriented. Shane shares how he and a co-worker had to leave the store in complete disarray as Boylston Street was closed down by law enforcement, how he found other staff and Marathon Sports owner Colin Peddie on the streets shortly after, and how he finally reunited with his wife.

The opinions and statements expressed in interviews and related content featured in the WBUR Oral History Project do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Our Marathon, WBUR, Northeastern University, or any employees or volunteers affiliated with these institutions and projects. Our Marathon and The WBUR Oral History project make no assertions about the veracity of statements made by participants in this project.

The WBUR Oral History Project. Shane O'Hara (Oral History), Joanna Shea O'Brien (Oral Historian), Kristi Girdharry (Recorder), Ryan McDonough (Sound Editing and Processing)

Our Marathon The Boston Bombing Digital Archive

Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston, Mass., 2013

Northeastern University Library

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