Boston Tightens Security for Marathon

Security is tight at the Boston Marathon, but two years after the event was rocked by terrorist bombs, the focus is back on world-class sporting competition. Some 30,000 runners and others are registered for the Monday morning event. Tens of thousands of spectators will cheer them on along the streets of this northeastern Massachusetts city, home to the world’s oldest annual marathon.   “For us, the core principle is the Boston Marathon is an international athletic event focused on competition and excellence,'' Tom Grilk, the executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, told the Associated Press last week.  “We start there, every time. Including last year,'' he said. Last year was the first post-attack year. On April 15, 2013, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev detonated two homemade pressure-cooker bombs near the Copley Square finish line just as the first wave of runners was completing the race. The explosions killed three people and injured 264. Several days after the event, elder brother Tamerlan, 26,  was killed in a shootout with police. Dzhokhar, then 19, was captured in a Boston suburb after an intensive manhunt. Earlier this month, a jury found him guilty on all of 30 charges related to the bombings. On Tuesday, he’s scheduled to return to federal court for the next phase of the trial, in which prosecutors will seek the death penalty.   ”What happened in 2013 was the closest and perhaps most poignant part of our history, but part of the history,” race organizer Grilk said. “The history going forward would be written by the people who come and run and watch and participate in all the ways that people do.'' Security will be intensive, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans told The Boston Globe last week, citing road closures, enhanced security checkpoints and bomb detection dogs throughout the route. Backpacks, shoulder bags and coolers would be subject to searches, he added.   Law enforcement also is taking extra precautions at and near Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Their traditional race-day game is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. At last year’s marathon, Meb Keflezighi became the first American man since 1983 to win. Africans have dominated the men’s division in recent years. Race conditions are less than optimal, with a forecast of rain, wind and temperatures of roughly 10 degrees Celsius or 50 Fahrenheit.

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1Ixago8