London Marathon runners were pounding the capital’s streets after earlier holding half a minute’s silence in memory of those who died in the Boston bomb attacks.
Amid tightened security to reassure the racers and crowds, there was a 30-second silence just before the start of the men’s elite race and mass start at 10am.
Among the many thousands watching the race was Prince Harry, who paid tribute to the “remarkable” way the people of Boston had dealt with the deadly attacks.
Many of the 36,000 fun-runners, athletes and fundraisers wore black ribbons in a show of solidarity after three people were killed and 180 injured in the Massachusetts blasts.
Virgin London Marathon has pledged to donate £2 for every finisher in the event to the One Fund Boston set up to raise money for victims of the explosions.As usual the route was filled with runners in all kinds of fancy dress.
Prince Harry made the presentations to the winners. Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede came first in the men’s race and Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya won the women’s.
But Paralympic star David Weir said he was disappointed with his fifth place in the men’s wheelchair race. Britain’s Shelly Woods also took fifth place in the women’s event.
London 2012 double champion Mo Farah said he had to run to even get to the race after oversleeping. He only ran half the course as planned, as he wants to concentrate on track running this year rather than long distance.