Arena attack remembered with 10km run
Survivors of the Manchester Arena terror attack, including the friends and family of the Scottish teenager killed, were among those to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragedy before running a 10km race through the city.
More than 20,000 racers in Sunday’s Great Manchester Run applauded the 22 victims ahead of the starting pistol, while church bells were set to tollat10:31pm–thetimeabomb was detonated at the Ariana Grandeconcertonmay22,2017.
Thedaywillbethefirsttimein three years that people in Manchester can mark the anniversaryfreeofcoronavirusrestrictions. Those running included friendsandfamilyofbarrateenager Eilidh Macleod who was killed – aged only 14 – in the terror attack.
A post by the Eilidh Macleod Memorial Trust said a dedicatedteamwererunning“inmemoryofourbeautifulangeleilidh Macleod”.
The group called on people to donate to support Ms Macleod’s love of music, posting: "Eilidhstrustwantstocontinue this love of music by advancing the musical education of childrenandyoungpeople,primarily but not exclusively in rural Scotland by facilitating access to various music based activities including advanced learning and performance opportunities,” the group said.
"Itaimstoofferbuddingmusiciansthechancetoexploretheir talents, having sourced high quality and affordable music makingprovisionswithintheir local communities.”
Freya Lewis, 19, who learned to walk again after suffering multiple injuries, fractures and burns at the bombing, raced for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity who saved her life.
Ms Lewis, who used a wheelchair for three months and whose best friend Nell Jones, then 14, was killed in the attack, has raised more than £67,000 with her family since the attack.
Cheshire-raised Ms Lewis told BBC Breakfast on Sunday morning that Manchester “means the world to me”, adding:“it’sthemostincrediblecity, I’ll always remember the way it came together and took me in as a Mancunian, as one of their own.”
Also raising money for hospitals in the city, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, ran with a team of NHS staff.
odel Ferne Mccann was among the runners, along with Coronationstreetactorsadam Blease, who plays Dirk, and Sally-anne Matthews, who stars as Jenny Bradley, for the Dogs Trust charity.
Remembrance services took place at the Glade of Light Memorial in the city centre.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge officially opened the permanent memorial earlier this month.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the courage shown by people in Manchester in the days following the attack had “touched the world”, as he paid tribute to the victims.
Hesaid:“thiswasanactofterrorismagainstthefreedomswe allholddear,butasthepeopleof Manchester demonstrated so courageously in the days that followed,hatredwillneverwin.”
Manchester-born Salman Abedi, 22, surrounded by the throng of youngsters leaving the Arena Grande concert, had exploded his shrapnel-packed rucksack bomb, sending thousands of nuts and bolts shredding everything in their path.