Belfast marathon diverted after 'device' found

The Belfast Marathon was today diverted due to a security alert on the planned route.

Police were called in to investigate a suspect device located at Gideon’s Corner, Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of the city.

Organisers were forced to direct runners on to a alternative path to keep them clear of any danger, lengthening the 26-mile course.

The package was found at the 12-mile point, one of the changeover points of the relay race.

Marathon Director David Seton insisted it was better to disrupt the route than stop the race altogether.

“We had to make a decision very, very quickly what to do. We decided to re-route them. That’s added a few hundred metres on to the race.

“But we thought it better to do that than anything else. The majority of people will run slightly more than the 26 miles, 385 yards, but there was no alternative.

“It was either that or abandon the race which we obviously didn’t want to do, with people having trained for this length.”

The race was won by Kenyan athlete Erick Kiplagat in a time of two hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds.

Alan McCullough, a brother of former boxing world champion Wayne McCullough, was the first Northern Ireland finisher, in fourth place.