BOSTON (AP) — A young victim of the Boston Marathon bombings is being remembered as a vivacious boy who loved to run and climb.

Congressman Stephen Lynch, a friend of the family, says 8-year-old Martin Richard was among the three people killed in the explosions Monday. The boy's mother and sister were badly injured.

Lynch says the family had gone to get some ice cream and then to the finish line to watch some friends cross. He describes them as a strong family and says they're doing better than expected.

A candle burned on the stoop of the family's single-family home in the city's Dorchester section, and the word "Peace" was written in chalk on the front walkway. A child's bicycle helmet lay overturned on the front lawn.