Two Kenyan stars of the 117th Boston Marathon returned home on Wednesday night relieved they had escaped the two bombs that overshadowed their achievements.

Women's titleholder Rita Jeptoo and men's runner-up Micah Kogo arrived in Nairobi still scarred by the attacks that claimed three lives and left 180 injured.

"I was the last athlete with the media at the finish line and I had just walked to the footsteps of the hotel when the explosion happened. At first I did not know what was wrong and moments later, I was being pulled by security, told there was a problem outside and there was no leaving the hotel," Jeptoo, who won her second Boston crown in 2:26:25 on Monday, recalled fighting back tears.

After decorating his ultimate distance debut by hanging in the coattails of Ethiopian pair Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremarriam to finish second, Kogo was fulfilling his doping control obligations when the attacks happened.

"I tried to calm down because I was on the safe side inside the hotel and after sometime, we saw the news and because we were only ten meters from the scene, we looked down from the window and saw people screaming, lying down flat on the ground, it was bad," said the athlete who clocked 2:10:27.

The visibly upset former world 10K record holder added: "I still do not know why they did this? What were they planning to achieve? Who are these guys who would place a bomb in a huge crowd?

"They should have come to cheer instead; so many people were along the route happy and cheering for us and the fun runners who were behind and were affected."

Kogo who won the 10,000m Olympics bronze in Beijing also told of the panic his family was in back home as the news of the devastating attack broke.

"They were trying to call me at the same time and I was telling them we were okay until the phones went off. Later, we were told it was because of security but it was very chaotic and I thank God that I came out of it alive," the athlete who condoled with the families of the eight-year-old boy and two adults killed narrated.

Both elite runners who are now in the frame to represent their nation at the Moscow World Championships in August agreed although the attacks had blemished their achievements, they would not quit the sport.

"Next year, if I'm in shape, I will return to Boston to defend my title since we cannot stop because this happened. It was an incident that is now passed and I'm sure organizers will work on preventing it from ever happening again," the women's champion stressed.

"What I achieved in my first marathon is great and I feel very motivated. This will be my distance from now before I can aspire to compete for my country, I need one more to gain experience, so, I shall continue training hard," said Kogo.

Other Kenyan runners including local Member of Parliament and outgoing men's titleholder, Wesley Korir, who finished fifth that took part in the race are expected home on Thursday and Friday.