Owen Bradley thought he was safe Monday running his first Boston Marathon.

Near the starting line, the 33-year-old from Birmingham noticed a heavy security presence that included police dogs, the kind that sniff for drugs. Or bombs.

Twenty-six miles down the road, two hours and 40 minutes later, as he crossed the finish line in the heart of Boston, he found himself running alongside three police motorcycles.

"It seemed like a very safe environment," Bradley said.

That's what we think, isn't it?

Safety in numbers.

Could be Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa or Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. Regions Field, Legion Field or the BJCC Arena in Birmingham. The Barber Motorsports Park or the Talladega Superspeedway at different exits along I-20.

No matter the sport or the city, when we head to a game, a race or any kind of sporting event, it seems like a safe environment.

Until it isn't.

Until some unknown killer plants two explosives within 100 yards of each other within sight of the finish line at the Boston Marathon, one of the most famous sporting events in this country, and the most democratic.

Thousands of people didn't get to finish the race, including Randy Lyle of Chelsea, who was stopped a half-mile from the end, not understanding why until the text messages started flooding into the cell phone he carried with him.

At least three people, confirmed dead from the blasts, will never see another starting line.

Their lives ended within shouting distance of that famous finish line.

One of those lost lives belonged to an 8-year-old boy.

As authorities led by the FBI race to discover who committed these unspeakable acts and why, the rest of us are left to wonder just how safe we are when we go to watch the games people play and the races people run.

A marathon's different from a football game, obviously. It's more people, competitors and spectators combined, spread out over an infinitely larger area. It's virtually impossible to secure that number of people in that large an area against a person or persons with evil intentions.

Having said that, striking at the Boston Marathon this way hits us where we live and play. If you're not safe in the final push toward the finish line there, where are you safe?

If terrorists, wherever their birthplace, whatever their motivation and however crude their weapons of mass destruction, could send shrapnel rocketing into the flesh of innocent men, women and children at the most famous foot race in this country, what sporting event is immune as a target for madmen?

It may be too soon to raise the subject, the sights and sounds from the raw video footage a little too raw, with bodies still to be buried and surgeries yet to be done, but let's be honest.

The farther away we've moved from Sept. 11, 2001, the more we've let our guard down.

As a journalist, when I walk into a stadium with a briefcase or a backpack, carrying a laptop, a digital recorder and other supplies to do my job, I expect a security guard to go through my things.

And it happens, but not always. Most of those searches come across as half-hearted, as if the person on duty is going through the motions rather than really looking for something threatening.

There are exceptions in the right direction. Before I walked into Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens for the BCS Championship Game in January, every zipper on my backpack was unzipped and every pocket was thoroughly examined. And then they went over my entire body with a security wand.

I didn't necessarily like it, but I understood and appreciated it.

Unfortunately, there are occasions in the other direction, too.

I've walked into football and baseball games in the last two years with that same backpack, and after showing my press credential, no one even asked to look inside.

No doubt after Monday in Boston, that'll change. Security here, there and everywhere will be more visible and more hands-on, as was the case after 9/11. Good. It should be.

It'll take a little longer to get through the gates to see a game, and maybe we'll feel a little better about it after we make it through, but one thing won't change.

A large crowd is a target, and some of our largest crowds gather to watch the games people play and the races people run.

Owen Bradley thought he was safe Monday at the Boston Marathon when he saw the police officers and the police dogs and the police motorcycles, and like most of the runners and spectators, he was safe, but only by chance.

He was in that Fairmont Copley Hotel when the bombs went off in the street below.

"It makes you question your security anywhere," he said.

Let's hope it makes everyone question their security everywhere.

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Email: scarbinsky@gmail.com

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