36,000 runners defy the extremists
AROUND 36,000 defiant runners pounded Manchester’s streets yesterday – shrugging off fears of a fresh atrocity.
Armed police mingled with spectators at the annual Great Manchester Run.
It had been feared that the event would be called off because of the security risk.
But Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who was among the 10km runners, said: ‘If we were to cancel that’s victory for those who seek to disrupt our way of life and I don’t think we were prepared to give them that victory.’
Comedian John Bishop, who also took part, said: ‘It’s about people making a stand and saying “You’re not going to change who we are and what we do”.’ Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh added: ‘It makes me so proud to be a part of this city’.
Many runners wore messages on their backs saying they were not afraid.
Over the weekend hundreds of people queued to get a tattoo of a bee (pictured right) in memory of the victims. The design, called the worker bee, symbolises Manchester’s industrial past.