Jimmy Golen and Steven Senne weaved together vivid vignettes from survivors, family members of victims and first responders to show how the healing continues 10 years after the Boston Marathon bombing. Instead of a standard narrative, they showed how the process has unspooled through a series of vignettes that introduced readers to a ballroom dancer who ran the race with a prosthetic limb after losing a leg in the bombing, a marathoner who wanted to do it again so he could remember the finish rather than only the heat of an explosion and the American who won the men’s race the year after the bombing, among others.
The long-form piece won 14,000 page views on AP News and usage by customers like ABC and Lee Enterprises. Golen has been covering the race since 1995, including the bombing itself in 2013. He used his knowledge and his connection to the marathon over several weeks to find the right people to best illustrate the consequences of that day and the will of survivors to overcome their trauma.