Evidence that the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon was on people’s mind was everywhere Sunday at the Eugene Marathon, but it did not seem to take over the race.

Word got around that a simple hand-over-heart gesture at the finish line would indicate support for the victims of the April 15 tragedy, and many exhausted runners remembered to do it.

Some handmade signs by spectators remembered Boston, some runners wore “Boston Strong” T-shirts, and there was a large, white, Eugene4Boston banner that quickly filled up with colorful signatures, prayers and other greetings to the Massachusetts capital.

Overall, it was a record-breaking day for the Eugene event, showing that the running community would not be deterred by fear of attacks.

Close to 9,000 people participated in the marathon and half-marathon, up 700 from last year, said Richard Maher, race director.

Eugene resident Zach Klonoski ran his third marathon — just two weeks after completing the Boston Marathon. He had not planned to run the Eugene race, but after the bombings in Boston decided to sign up.

Laney shows plenty of heart in winning Eugene Marathon

It’s been nearly 15 years since Thurston High School student Kip Kinkel fatally shot his parents and two classmates and wounded 25 others.

Now Kinkel’s lawyer is asking a state judge to toss out his nearly 112-year sentence, based on a ruling last summer by the U.S. Supreme Court that dealt with mandatory life in prison without parole for juveniles.

Kinkel, now 30, was just 15 when the unthinkable hit home in Lane County on May 21, 1998. After killing his parents, William Kinkel, 59, and Faith Kinkel, 57, in their rural Springfield home the night before, he opened fire with a rifle in Thurston’s cafeteria the next morning.

His rampage claimed the lives of 17-year-old Mikael Nickolauson and 16-year-old Ben Walker. It also altered hundreds of other lives, from shooting victims and their families to students, staff and emergency workers who experienced the event.

Kinkel agreed to accept a plea deal to serve 25 years for the fatal shootings. However, a judge sentenced him in November 1999 to 111 years and eight months without the possibility of parole, factoring in time for attempted murder counts.