On the day of the race, Dennis Dahl wasn’t feeling well, so he was running a bit slower than he intended. He was only behind his mark a few minutes, but it was a few minutes that may have saved his life. Just a half a mile away from the finish line he heard an explosion.

“It was supposed to be a big celebration,” Dahl said. “People had to work really hard to qualify. Especially for those of us doing it the first time … it’s exciting to cross the finish line and that was taken away from 27,000 people.”

It was a day now known as the Boston Marathon Bombing, which claimed three lives and injured more than 260 people.

After last year’s tragic events Dahl said he was even more committed than ever to finishing the marathon, which occurred on Monday, April 21. He crossed the finish line with a time of four hours, 43 minutes and 26 seconds.

For Dahl,  it was his way of standing up to those who perpetuate violence.

“It’s my small statement that you can’t do stuff like that,” he said. “We are going to keep running the race.”

Dahl, a 66-year-old retired football coach and physical education teacher, is known for his positive attitude and can-do spirit. In 2009, Dahl retired after 20 years of leading the Vikings football team. At the end of 2011 he also retired from his position as the fourth through 12th grade physical education teacher. What he didn’t retire from was his zest for running. He estimates that he has finished four or five marathons. In 2012, he ran the 100-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc and before that he ran in the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon with his son and daughter.

Last week, Dahl made the trip again to Boston with his wife Bonnie. He said one of his favorite aspects of “racing” was not competition, but simply the joy of “running with a bunch of folks who like to run.”

If the explosion had not happened, Dahl said he would not have wanted to run the Boston Marathon again, but now that he has crossed the finish line he is determined to turn this year’s run into a positive statement.

“There is always that chance that something could happen,” he said. “You can’t go around being scared of going into crowds because then they win.”