Saginaw runner John Koltvedt crossed the finish line 30 seconds before the first blast at the Boston Marathon.

SAGINAW, MI — While one Michigan woman used a tragedy for inspiration for her Halloween costume, another Saginaw runner who experienced the Boston Marathon bombing said reminders bring back painful memories.

Saginaw runner

John Koltvedt,

"I don't know this girl, but she

obviously has an issue with her

judgement

," Koltvedt said. "To me, it will always be too soon."





Koltvedt, 43, crossed the finish line and felt a concussion from the first of two explosions about 30 seconds later.

After moments of chaos, the two runners found each other safe.

A photograph posted to Alicia Lynch's Twitter account, @SomeSkankinMI, shows the Michigan woman wearing an SVSU race shirt with fake scars on her legs. The photograph has gained national attention and led to death threats following the costume tweet.

Koltvedt

compares the costume choice to someone dressing up as a victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"I feel bad for her, quite frankly," he said, noting that he believes many people in areas away from Boston may not realize the significance of the event.

"I

f she was in the Boston area when it all happened, she wouldn't have done something like that," he said. "The entire town bonded together that day."

"She would have known it was wrong," he said.

He called the costume "100 percent inappropriate" and said he and his wife, along with the victims of the bombing and everyone else there when it happened, have worked through the bombing aftermath in their own ways.

"I think

for the most part, everybody is trying to move on," he said.

He said he believes the story illustrates a bigger issue that some people don't understand what happened in Boston.

"They weren't there, they didn't live it," he said. "They didn't attempt to learn what happened that day. If they would have, they would know it was a tragedy and if she would have taken the time to understand, she wouldn't have made that choice."

He has been back to Boston about five times for work since the bombing and said "everyone there is sensitized" about the event.

, said she and her family members and friends have received death threats after the news spread of her costume. She told the publication that she knows she made a mistake after putting a photo of her costume on Twitter.

The image shows Lynch wearing a T-shirt from a race at Saginaw Valley State University. A university spokesperson said Lynch never attended the university.

"I hope nothing happens to her," Koltvedt said. "Obviously at this point she knows she made a mistake, but does she understand the passion behind the anger? Or is she just scared now? Does she know what she did wrong?"

Question: Is online vengeance out of whack or understandable in this case?