London Marathon 'proceeding as normal' despite Boston tragedy, says Boris Johnson

DUBAI // The mayor of London has said the city's annual marathon will go ahead this Sunday, despite the tragedy in Boston.
"What's happened in Boston has been shocking and horrific, and our thoughts are very much with the victims and their families," Boris Johnson said in Dubai yesterday.
"I've talked to the commissioner of police in London today. At the moment there is no direct read-across that we can see but clearly we will be calling on the public to be vigilant, and it may be that there will be some intensified search operations.
"But certainly we will be proceeding as normal."
The London Marathon is the world's biggest, with 36,748 crossing the finish line last year.
Angeline Wehbe, 43, a full-time mum and coach at Abras AC running club, will be leaving Dubai for London today to compete in the marathon.
Apart from a brief flicker of doubt when she first heard the Boston news late on Monday night, she said she was "absolutely determined" to compete.
"What happened in Boston would never, ever stop me," Ms Wehbe said.
"You can't have these crazy people control what you do in your life. This is my passion and why should I stop doing it just out of fear?
"It was great that the London officials came out really early on and said we're beefing up the security measures.
"I've had a lot of friends and family calling, worried - telling me to stay out of big crowds, which is a bit difficult in a marathon of 35,000 people.
"But why should I let monsters deter me? Even if I was competing in the Boston Marathon next year, I wouldn't give it a second thought. We can't let acts of terror win.
"What's so sad is that it's the supporters who really make the race, and they were the ones targeted after standing there for hours cheering people on."
The London race has three starting points that converge in Woolwich and the 42.1-kilometre course ends on The Mall near Buckingham Palace.
The race is also considered one of the most charitable, with up to 70 per cent of runners competing to raise funds.
In 2009, the event won a Guinness World Record for being the largest annual fund-raising event, after participants raised more than £47.2 million (Dh265.3m) for charity.
csimpson@thenational.ae