Chris Estwanik, the former Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby champion, will pass on the Boston Marathon this year because of a niggling knee injury suffered last year and not owing to the bombings that took three lives and left hundreds more scarred for life.

The former Nike Farm runner had already crossed the finish line in a time of 2hr 21min 19sec, eclipsing the Bermuda residents’ record set by Peter Lever in Detroit 41 years earlier, by the time Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonated two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line on Boylston Street.

The 33-year-old recalled his memories of the tragic day as something that he will never forget. “I’m grateful for the experience [of breaking the record], but we couldn’t be happy after finding out what happened just moments after,” said Estwanik, who will return to marathon racing in June in Minnesota.

“The emotions of the memorable moment stopped once we got a shower, walked out the hotel, not knowing what was going on and then got hit with that. It was really tragic.

“Even though I will be on the couch, I will be rooting for each runner, Bermudian or not, to complete the race and feel a sense of achievement. Many of the runners that never got a chance to finish will be there this year again and, hopefully, the weather is great and there can be a sense of closure.”

Unfortunately for Mynor Aquilar, Natalie Dyrli, Joann Lee, Steven Oritz, Candace Roach and Kim Willey, they were unable to finish the race because they were rerouted from the disaster zone.

Fifteen Bermuda residents were involved in the race, with the rest crossing the finish line before the heinous acts, including Estwanik, his wife, Ashley, and Rose-Anna Hoey.

The scenes witnessed and the desperation in trying to find fellow Islanders are vivid in Estwanik’s memory.

“That day gave me a real reflection of what we as people take for granted,” he said. “If I have learnt anything from that day, it is to make the most you can from every day you have.”

“You read the stories about the affected people where they lost limbs and things of that nature and it has inspired me in my path to recovery and to take nothing for granted in life.

“Last year most of the elite runners were in and doing interviews before the bombings, but they will still go out this year and look to put on a show of acknowledgment to the city. Running brings people together and even the fast runners are human and have emotions, so we have to embrace the event as a whole.

“The city of Boston will have a great time this year and it will not only be a celebration in defiance of last year’s tragic events, but also getting back on track with daily life events and being stronger from the incident as a community.”

This year’s race, on April 21, will have a “no bags” policy as part of stepped-up security after the events of 2013, the Boston Athletic Association announced last month.

Marathon runners typically are allowed to bring bags or backpacks to keep personal items. Those bags are bused between the starting line in Hopkinton and the finish line in Boston. But, this year, runners will not be afforded that luxury on any part of the course.