Culver City ITT Tech Teacher Returns from Boston Marathon Safely

"My brother is buried in Boston," said Susan Rothman Kolko, who completed her fifth Boston Marathon on Monday.

"It's a very nostalgic thing for me," said the Beverly Hills mother of five who teaches at Culver City's ITT  Technical Institute. "And usually I cry a lot before the finish line," she added, remembering her brother who died after breaking his neck in a swimming pool accident.

"This time I cried after the finish line, too."

Kolko, 46, who finished with a time of 4 hours, 4 minutes, was about to pick up her medal when she heard the first of two explosions.

"Some people thought it was a cannon they were firing off for Patriots' Day," she said. "I knew it was not a cannon."

Kolko turned around and saw the smoke. Shortly after, police moved into the road, diverting runners from the finish line.

"I was fortunate to have finished before the explosions," Kolko recalled. "I had my bag and my phone," she said, referring to the pre-packed kits runners pick up when they are done.

Others weren't so lucky, she said, and had to make sense of what was happening without phones or warm clothes. Kolko said that even with her clothes she was cold, and as she walked out of the area she got even colder. She was shaking by the time she met her friend, Beverly Hills resident Lisa Dordick, who finished the race ahead of her.

Will Kolko run the Boston Marathon again?

"Probably not," she said. Although she does have a couple of triathlons planned in the next few months.

Kolko, a lifelong athlete and a high school girls lacrosse umpire, was back in the classroom Tuesday night for her Business Negotiation class at Culver City's ITT Tech.

"My students all reached out, wanting to know how I was. I want them to see I'm fine."