LONDON: Tens of thousands of runners flowed through the British capital yesterday in the London Marathon, after a solemn 30-second silence at the start for the victims of the bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon barely a week ago.
Many of the 35,000 competitors wore black ribbons to remember those killed and wounded by the blasts in the US.
Security for the London race was tightened in the wake of the Boston carnage last Monday, with several hundred extra police officers drafted in along the 42.2km course.
The event was dedicated in many other ways to the Boston attacks.
After the participants, Olympic athletes among them, bowed their heads for the half-minute silence, they raised a huge cheer.
The runners then set off on a course over which hung many banners, including one reading: “Run if you can, walk if you must, but finish for Boston”.
Organisers announced that £2 for every finisher would be donated to a fund for the Boston victims.
There was also a social media campaign encouraging runners to place their hands on their hearts as they crossed the finish line.
“Marathons are all about people coming together,” Keith Luxon, an amateur runner who competed in the Boston race and was also due to take part in London, told the BBC.
“Part of that was ruined in Boston, and it’s up to us to put some of that back.”
Organisers estimated that more than 700,000 spectators lined the marathon route in London and many said the horrors in Boston had made them more determined to show their support.
Katie Prahin, who lives in London but comes from the US state of Virginia and studied in Boston, was among those cheering on the runners.
“It is good to be here today and not shying away,” the 35-year-old social worker said.
Marshals in high-visibility jackets were dotted along the route and police officers on bicycles slowly patrolled behind the spectators, while a sniffer dog was walked along the course in the city centre.
AFP
