Crowds line London to cheer runners, honour Boston

Undaunted by the Boston bombings, big crowds lined the route of the London marathon yesterday to cheer on around 36,000 runners, many of whom wore black ribbons to honour the dead and wounded in last week’s tragedy.

Hundreds of extra police were deployed to secure the first race in the World Marathon Majors series since two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday killed three people and wounded 176.

One spectator held up a placard that read “Come on London, do it for Boston!” while some runners had the name of the US city emblazoned on their vests, but despite these sombre reminders the mood was overwhelmingly one of celebration.