It’s been one year since Lorraine Gersitz ran the Boston Marathon and experienced the bombs that shook the running community she has been a part of for years.

Gersitz, who is a reference coordinator for the Cerritos College library, was just 200 yards away from the finish line last year when the explosions took place.

Now she is packing her bags for Boston as she prepares to run again in the 118th Annual Boston Marathon on Monday, April 21.

The last Boston Marathon was planned to be Gersitz last trip to the event but after the explosions took place she felt like she had to go back.

“I wanna go back and have a positive experience this year and hopefully I can leave with a good feeling about the event.”

Gersitz said last year, and reiterated this year, that marathons are usually a happy event and that runners are on a “high” after finishing the event, and with the bombings that ‘high’ was over shadowed.

The running community has remained strong according to Gersitz. She has heard from a lot of other runners that there’s a sense of “We have to go back” and that they are not going to let this event stop them from doing what they love.

She mentioned that since last year there has been a lot of support for the running community, which is why she wants to go back.

“I feel like I need to go back again,” she said.

Boston Strong is an organization that was started to help support all runners since the bombings.

The organization sells shirts at its website, Stay Strong Boston Strong, to help fund The One Fund Boston to support victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon.

So far the organization has raised $1,009,774 and has sold 66,407 shirts.

Gersitz mentioned that there will be a change this year for the marathon as security measures are being increased.

“Because of that incident they have instituted a lot of security measures,” she said.

Something that has changed, according to Gersitz is that runners can’t wear their warm up gear to the start any more.

You have to show up how you’re going to run from the start, and leave clothes to change into at the finish.

Other clothes will be donated to charity.

Runners also can’t carry anything on their backs while they are running.

“I have my doubts about how they will monitor the course. It’s an open street that people are running on,” Gersitz added.

She went on to say that with the extra measures she doesn’t feel like an attack will happen again and she does feel safer going to the marathon.

Gersitz has continued her running events throughout the past year and says that she doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

She said that in marathons, you’re always competing with people in your own age group so that makes it comfortable to run.

“It’s really a lifetime sport, there are people in their 80s still running marathons and those are the people that inspire me.”

Gersitz recently competed in a half man triathlon in Oceanside, Calif. and finished first for her age group of 60 to 64.

She now qualifies for the Ironman World Championship Triathlon that will take place in Canada this September.

“The goal really is to qualify for the full ironman that’s in Hawaii.”

For more information on the upcoming Boston Marathon event visit the Boston Athletic Association.