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London Marathon reviews security after Boston marathon bombings

With Big Ben in the background, a sign warns of road closures for the coming London Marathon.
(Sang Tan / Associated Press)
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Organizers for Sunday’s London Marathon are reviewing security arrangements after the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

London Marathon Chief Executive Nick Bitel said in a statement that “We are deeply saddened and shocked by the news from Boston. Our immediate thoughts are with the people there and their families. It is a very sad day for athletics and for our friends and colleagues in marathon running.

“Our security plan is developed jointly with the Metropolitan Police and we were in contact with them as soon as we heard the news.

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“The London Marathon fully expects at this stage that the race will go ahead as planned on Sunday, although we are continuing to review security with the Metropolitan Police.

“The London Marathon will be in continuing contact with all of its runners through their emails, they will hear from us on a daily basis in that way.

“Runners will also be able to get information from our website which will be updated as and when we have further news for them. We will try and keep updating our runners as best we can throughout this period.

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“The London Marathon in common with most sports events in the world have got fairly detailed contingency plans which one hopes can deal with anything that occurs.

“But when something of this nature does happen you obviously want to review them and see if changes need to be made.”

The London Marathon was expected to have about 37,000 competitors Sunday and an estimated 500,000 spectators lining the streets.

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