Thomas has faith in London support

Former Olympian Iwan Thomas has "faith" that people will come out in large numbers to cheer on this Sunday's London Marathon runners despite the carnage in Boston.

The athlete-turned-television presenter, who has become a regular runner in the annual event, said he was "saddened and shocked" by events in Boston which left three people dead and scores injured after two bombs exploded near the finish line.

He said: "We will put faith in the people of London to come out and support the event like they normally do and I think it would be a massive shame if anyone was fearful of the event."

His comments were echoed by former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss who is running for the first time this year.

He said he expected it to be an "emotional" day.

He said: "I'd be very surprised if the vast majority of the runners haven't seen the footage of what went on in Boston and the harrowing scenes and also the back stories of some of the families that were affected.

"It's a horrendous tragedy and I think this is an opportunity for all of us that are involved in the London marathon to come out and do our bit and show a bit of solidarity and also show that we're not going to cower with fear.

"The world goes on and this is our opportunity to show in our own tiny little way that terrorism doesn't work".