The 40th edition of the Marathon de Paris was yesterday to take place on high alert following terrorist attacks on the French capital and Brussels, organizers said.
Paris suffered several attacks last year, with 17 people killed in attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a Jewish supermarket in January.
In November, another 130 people were killed and many injured in a series of attacks both in central Paris and on the outskirts at the Stade de France, where the Euro 2016 soccer final is to be held on July 10.
A total of 32 people were also killed in the March 22 attacks on the airport and a metro station in Brussels.
However, marathon organizers Amaury Sport Organisation insisted there was never a question of canceling the race as in 1991 because of France’s military presence in the Gulf War.
“The question does not arise,” director-general Yann Le Moenner said.
About 57,000 participants from 160 countries have registered for the race covering 42.195km, starting on the Champs Elysees and crossing the French capital to the Bois de Vincennes in the east.
Tens of thousands of spectators are also expected to line the route, with festivities planned at the 40km mark, in honor of the first edition in 1976.
For the first time in race history, formers winners are to try to defend their titles — Ethiopia’s Meseret Mengistu in the women’s and Kenya’s Mark Korir the men’s.
On average, up to 10,000 runners who have registered fail to line up on the day and it remains to be seen if the Paris and Brussels attacks will have an impact.
However, marathon director Edouard Cassignol said: “There is absolutely no psychosis.”
“After the events of Nov. 13, we received a lot of e-mails asking if the marathon was going ahead. Notably e-mails from Americans and foreigners. This phenomenon was not repeated after the dramatic events of recent weeks,” Cassignol added.
Race organizers declined to elaborate on the arrangements put in place for security reasons.
“We can’t say much more, we have a commitment not to disclose the details of the plans, because confidentiality ensures full efficiency,” Cassignol said.
The Prefecture of Police in Paris said in a statement that “security measures will be reinforced by police teams at the start and finish zones in order to protect participants.”
“They will carry out checks in support of an important filtering system set up by the organizers. There will be systematic pat downs of the public with bags checked. Similarly, patrols will be mobilized to secure the entire route taken by the runners,” police said.
“Emergency vehicles and assistance will also be on site as it is customary for this kind of event. Several hundred police officers will be mobilized for the occasion,” police said.
Marathon organizers insisted that security would be at a maximum, with patrols and metal detectors used.
“The proposed system has been considerably strengthened,” Cassignol said.
“We have strengthened baggage searches, both in terms of resources and materials, since staff will be equipped with metal detectors. We also plan spotters, people trained to detect any abnormal behavior, and finally we briefed our nearly 3,000 volunteers on being vigilant on D-day,” he added.
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