Brennan: Great marathon day just Boston being Boston

• For some fans who were there last year%2C returning to see the marathon this year was a must
• Security was stepped up from a year ago%2C but not to the point that it changed a great event
• One fan said %27we wanted to come back and show them that terrorism doesn%27t affect us%27

BOSTON — The 10-second moment of silence had just ended. So had the subsequent "yell that they will hear around the world," a raucous and sustained cheer requested by the public-address announcer at the sun-drenched finish line of the 2014 Boston Marathon.

Emerson College students Kinsey Minschke and Brielle Sullivan turned to leave. They had come to the marathon to stand at a specific spot on the sidewalk along Boylston Street at that exact moment — 2:49 p.m. on marathon day — 25 feet from where the first bomb went off last year.

That was where they had been standing on April 15, 2013, until they decided it was too cold and left at about 2:45 p.m. They were three blocks away when the bomb exploded.

"We wanted to come back and show them that terrorism doesn't affect us," Minschke said, wiping away a tear.

"It was very powerful to get to be here today and be here in a happier way," Sullivan said.

Minschke and Sullivan might as well have been speaking for an entire city – and nation, for that matter. On the streets, on the sidewalks, the marathon made a joyous and even carefree return to Boston on Monday.

Security was present, but hardly overwhelming. There were wands and bag searches to get into restricted areas near the finish line, but nothing as elaborate as airport security. Otherwise, people walked freely along the route, or packed 10 deep near the finish line, as temperatures soared into the 70s.

Restaurants and shops along the course were open and thriving. Spectators certainly weren't afraid to go to the marathon, or even stand where people had been killed or injured a year ago — if they even realized where they were. Solemnity gave way to this city's adoration of its big sporting events.

It was almost as if nothing had happened.

Almost.

The "Boston Strong" T-shirts served as a reminder. So did the signs. "No more hurting people. Peace," was written on one at the site of the first bombing, the wonderful message of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who was killed by the second bomb.

And so did the shirts, the MR8 logo that 100 runners wore in memory of Martin, including Tatyana McFadden, the women's wheelchair champion who won her sixth consecutive major marathon.

She went to a dinner the other night honoring Martin. She left as a member of team MR8 after asking if she could dedicate her performance to Martin's memory. His energetic younger sister Jane, who lost her left leg in the bombing, spent so much time with McFadden that night that she ended up wearing all her medals.

Jane also discovered a wonderful sports role model. "She was showing me her leg," McFadden said. "She was showing me how far she could run."

On Monday, McFadden and the other elite athletes had long since completed the race when attention turned to the spot 40 feet from the finish line, where everything changed a year ago. The storefront closest to the site of the first bombing, Marathon Sports, was proudly open, teeming with customers, with a "Thank you, Boston" sign in the window.

Seventeen of its employees were running the marathon, far more than ever before. The store planned to shoo everyone out and close its doors when its longtime manager came down the home stretch later in the afternoon.

"To celebrate," explained Dan Darcy, brand manager for Marathon Sports.

Outside the store, two runners from Northern Virginia were watching the waves of participants coming to the finish, dozens upon dozens every minute.

"Because of what happened last year, we just had to be here," Pat Welch said.

She and her friend Linda Kearney hadn't thought about the fact that they were standing where the first bomb exploded. But when it was mentioned, they couldn't help notice what was happening.

Nothing but normalcy.

"It is interesting," Kearney said. "Look at all these people, just walking by."

Just Boston being Boston, once again.