George Washington Parkway Classic: Safety Top Concern After Boston Marathon Bombings

In the wake of Monday's attacks at the Boston Marathon finish line, many runners are concerned about their safety and security at local races.

The George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile and 5K race scheduled for this Sunday will still take place.

Pacers Events sent the following email to participants Tuesday morning informing them that additional security enhancements will be made to its safety plan:

What started as a beautiful day celebrating the joys and triumphs of running turned tragic and will have a long lasting impact on the city and our sport. At Pacers, we want to express our sincere sympathies to all impacted by this terrible event.

As we prepare for this weekend's Parkway Classic with heavy hearts, we want to communicate important security information to you in regards to this weekend's race.

The safety of our participants, staff, volunteers, spectators, vendors, and municipality partners is our number one concern. Pacers Events and our municipality partners employ extensive safety and security protocols and plans. We are enacting our emergency response and will be making additional enhancements to our safety plan.

Rest assured, our response is immediate. The City of Alexandria, United States Park Police, and our neighboring jurisdictions are on alert and are coordinating a consolidated effort including deploying additional resources for your safety.

We will release information no later than Thursday that outline enhanced security measures that will impact you on race day. We thank you in advance for your understanding as we anticipate that our enhanced security measures will require your cooperation and patience.

We sincerely thank our municipality partners — the City of Alexandria, National Park Service, United States Park Police, and our neighboring municipalities — for their immediate response and coordination.

Do you still plan on running the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile and 5K in the wake of yesterday's events? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

See also:

George Washington Parkway Classic Race Guide