Sun staff report

“Can everyone pray for my son Jeff Jr.?” Jeff Bauman Sr. wrote in an emotional plea on his Facebook page hours after the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

The elder Bauman, of Chelmsford, posted that message under a news photo of his critically-injured son being rushed from the scene, after two explosions near the finish line killed three and injured more than 130.

Bauman, who could not be reached for comment, wrote that his son was at the finish line when he was injured by a bomb. His son was transported to the hospital where he was undergoing surgery on his legs.

“I just can’t explain what’s wrong with people today to do this to people,” Bauman posted. “I’m really starting to lose faith in our country.”

William Manchenton was 6 miles from the finish line, pushing himself to complete his first Boston Marathon, when he and the other runners were suddenly pulled off the course.

Manchenton, 55, of Lowell, already knew something was wrong because his cellphone kept buzzing in his pocket.

“I pulled out my phone and saw the headlines,” he said.

“I’m just sick about what happened,” Manchenton said. “The very thought that somehow, someone twisted thought it was okay to do this is beyond belief,” he said.

Howard Hersey, of Groton, was planning to hang around near the finish line after running his first Boston Marathon, but he wasn’t feeling well, so he went to the medical-aid tent. Minutes after he entered the tent, the first explosion went off.

Hersey was getting an IV when the first victims came in, so he was moved to the far side of the tent to allow room for those hurt in the explosions.

“It was like a war scene,” he said. “It was just horrific.”

Mike Murphy, who was also running his first Boston Marathon, finished one minute and 40 seconds before the first explosion. The Chelmsford resident was close enough to the explosion to be knocked forward, his ears still stinging from the noise hours later.

“I was, for a second, afraid to turn around and see what I was going to see,” he said.

Westford’s Gerard Ottaviano, a regular marathon runner for 30 years, said he finished about nine minutes before the explosion.

“The earth shook,” he said. “It was so loud.”

Ottaviano described the chaotic scene that followed, with cellphone service nearly impossible.

With such large crowds for the race, he said, “it’s surprising something like this hasn’t happened before.”

Former Chelmsford High School and Stonehill College runner, Josh Andrews of Portsmouth, N.H., had just finished the Marathon in 2 hours, 41 minutes, 37 seconds — 331st place overall — when the first explosion hit.

“I was about a block away from the finish. I walked a few blocks to get my bag. I was with a few friends, walking back toward the finish and boom … and then boom. Absolute chaos,” he said. “I certainly saw some things I don’t want to talk about.”

Andrews’ dad, Thomas, ran the race, but was unable to finish after runners were rerouted after the blast. Eventually Andrews did get together with his dad, his stepmom, his two little sisters, and his mom and stepdad, who had flown in from Ohio to see the race.

“With this catastrophic event, I thought police, EMTs and all the volunteers did a commendable job getting people to safe areas and controlling the madness,” Andrews said.

Scott Graham, 24, of Westford, was already back at the Park Plaza Hotel after finishing his 27th consecutive Boston Marathon, in 3 hours, 26 minutes, 34 seconds.

Graham was a half-mile away and didn’t hear the explosions, but when he went down to the lobby to leave, “People were in shock.”

Graham said runners were still out on the course and family members were concerned because officials had shut down the finish line.

“I tried to get a hold of my son (a student at Wentworth, who was there as a spectator). They shut down all cell service. Once I got out of the area and my cell worked, I probably had a couple of hundred messages (people checking on him),” he said.

His son was fine, “but a lot of people are still worried about their friends and family,” he said.

Richard Turcotte, 46, of Westford, was turning left onto Boylston Street for the final stretch when he saw smoke ahead from the explosions, which occurred minutes earlier.

“You could see smoke and chaos ahead,” Turcotte said. “Ambulances and police cars just started filling up Boylston Street… It was just chaos. Nobody knew what the heck was going on.”

This story was reported by Sun staff writers Lisa Redmond, Grant Welker, David Pevear and Rick Sobey. It was written by Redmond.