Prince Harry to attend London Marathon as planned

The head of the London Marathon, Nick Bitel, said he “fully expects” the race to go ahead, but contingency plans for a major incident would be re-examined with the Metropolitan police to see if changes were needed.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told the BBC he was “absolutely confident” that the London event could be kept safe.

And Mayor of London Boris Johnson has held talks with Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe about beefing up security measures if necessary.

Emails to runners

Mr Bitel said: “The London Marathon fully expects at this stage that the Virgin London Marathon 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.

“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.”

Chief Superintendent Julia Pendry, event commander for the world-famous charity race, said: “A security plan is in place for the London Marathon. We will be reviewing our security arrangements in partnership with London Marathon.”

Crowd surveillance

David Lowe, a specialist in security at sports events, said: “I think you are going to find a lot of surveillance on the crowds. It is the classic of not those watching the race – those who may be looking around, acting slightly different, slightly more suspicious.”

Mr Robertson said: “These are a balance of judgments, but we are absolutely confident here that we can keep the event safe and secure.”

Mr Johnson said: “The bombings in Boston are shocking, cowardly and horrific, and the thoughts of all Londoners this morning will be with the victims. Boston is a proud city built on history, tradition and a real sense of community.

“These attacks were aimed at its core, at innocent men, women and children enjoying a spring day out at a major sporting event.

“We do have robust security measures in place for Sunday’s London Marathon but, given events in Boston, it’s only prudent for the police and the organisers of Sunday’s race to re-examine those security arrangements.”