The bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon resonated close to home with some University of Massachusetts students and alumni who were in Boston on Monday or knew people who were.

“It’s just scary, scary to think about, to know that it can happen so close to home,” said Madison Burke, a junior communications major.

Burke, who has attended the marathon as a spectator in the past but stayed in Amherst this year, had friends who were in Boston watching the event. Her father, who was not at the marathon, was the first to call her and let her know what had happened.

“I was definitely worried about everyone in Boston,” she said, adding that she proceeded to call all those that she knew in the area to make sure that they were safe.

Charlie Felder, a UMass alumnus who graduated in 2010, was working in Boylston City Sports, located down the street from the finish line.

“It’s always so crowded (on the day of the marathon) that we have to enter our building from behind the streets that are cordoned off,” he said in a phone interview.

Usually on the day of the marathon, City Sports will be crowded with runners who come in after the race to shop, and Monday was no different, Felder said. People had just started to come across the finish line “in bulk,” he said, when “all of a sudden, people just started running into our store.”

Employees were notified of the news by eyewitnesses, who were panicking and saying that there had been explosions. Women and children were crying, Felder said, and everyone seemed confused.

Felder and other employees ushered people into the employee backroom, where they stayed for almost an hour. People in the backroom were only able to communicate using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as cell phone lines were clogged, he said.

“The scope of what has taken place today just baffles me,” said Felder, who worked for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian during his time at UMass.

Rachel Burgess, a senior kinesiology major, was along the course in Brookline watching a friend run the race. She said the first clue that something was wrong was the change in attitude of security personnel.

“Army people were looking around to people near trash cans … asking people to move,” Burgess said.

When she realized what had happened, Burgess first thought about her friend who was running and then about her other friends who were closer to the finish line of the marathon. None of them were injured.

Another friend of Burgess who was watching from the finish line said that people were running “like a stampede” to get away from the scene.

Burgess said that running the race and crossing the finish line is “such a joyous moment,” having run the marathon before, and “it’s just really saddening” to have that taken away from the runners.

Rebecca Brogan, a kinesiology and public health major, was in Hopkinton at the starting line of the marathon volunteering with the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.

“It was a fantastic morning,” she said. “We couldn’t have asked for it to go any smoother. And then this happened.”

Added Brogan: “We’re all in shock, especially being there this morning.”

Felder said that it was “life affirming” to see everyone who rushed to other’s aid filled with “love, courage and bravery,” saying that the actions of community members coming to help others displayed humanity at its finest.

“That’s something I haven’t really seen in a long time,” he said.

Patrick Hoff can be reached at [email protected].