By Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff

Runner's World has produced a poignant cover for its July edition, which focuses on the tragedy at the Boston Marathon and its impact on the running community.

Editor David Willey explained the cover in detail in a blog post on the magazine's website, but also gave Boston.com a few more details today during a phone interview.

With the June issue already "in bed" when the bombs went off April 15, Willey and his staff knew their next opportunity to address Boston in print was the July issue. The bar for magazines was set high with popular covers already created by Sports Illustrated and Boston Magazine.

"I was blown away, it was such a brilliant idea," Willey said of Boston Magazine's montage of running shoes on its cover.

Nonetheless, Runner's World surely deserves a place alongside its colleagues with the July cover. Reaction has been almost entirely positive, Willey said, assuaging his fear that some would interpret the cover -- with its picture of a Boston Marathon medal with a black band across it -- as meaning the Boston Marathon was dead.

"We've gotten a pretty big response," he said. "A lot of people say they love it, simply saying it's great, it's perfect, and when people say more, it tends to be along the lines of 'I can't wait to read the whole issue.' "

The magazine hits newsstands June 11 and goes live for tablets June 5.