People around the world have been transfixed by the events in Boston this week and perhaps even more so in the Maritimes, where many people have emotional and geographical ties to the city.

“Yes, we’ve been watching this since Monday, since the race concluded,” says Blane Harris, a barber at the Lancaster Barber Shop in Saint John. “It’s been terrible, terrible stuff happening in Boston.”

Even local sports bars have switched the channel away from sports coverage to news coverage.

“People are not talking about the Canadiens or the Leafs today, they’re just talking about what’s happening in Boston,” says Saint John pub owner Peter Ferguson.

The longstanding relationship between the Maritimes and Boston has been deeply felt this week – an affinity that includes sports teams and tourism, cultural roots, and even similar weather patterns.

Monday’s twin bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded more than 180 others.

Steve Boulter, a self-proclaimed Boston fan, says he felt he had to do something to help our neighbours to the south, so he decided to design and sell T-shirts with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

“The city is some place that I really love, just from going down so frequently, and it’s just unreal to see what’s taken place,” says Boulter.

Border security has been tightened all week, with customs officials carefully checking vehicles before they leave the United States.

One of New Brunswick’s best known runners is back on the job today, after running in the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Since then, Alex Coffin says he has had a change of heart about returning to Boston.

“I thought to myself, I am never going back. But you know, the closer I got to home, I thought, I have to go back because this race means so much to so many people and it’s such a positive event,” says Coffin. “I will definitely be going back.”

At least one tour group of 40 people from New Brunswick is in Boston this weekend – a time when both the Boston Bruins and the Boston Red Sox are scheduled to play home games.

It is unclear whether any major sporting events will go ahead this weekend; both the Bruins and the Red Sox have postponed tonight’s games.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron