Organizers vow to continue Boston Marathon next year

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) –

Tributes for victims of the Boston Marathon are laid along Boylston and Arlington Street on April 16, 2013. Organizers said next year’s race would go ahead as planned and that they are co-operating with law enforcement officials to find those responsible for the deadly blasts.

Boston Marathon organizers said that next year’s race would go ahead as planned and that they are co-operating with law enforcement officials to find those responsible for the deadly blasts.

“We are committed to continuing that tradition with the running of the 118th Boston Marathon in 2014,” Thomas Grilk, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, said Tuesday.

Grilk, who is a long-time Boston area lawyer, said they have been in contact with civic, state and federal law enforcement officers, who are probing the twin blasts that caused chaos in the city, killing at least three and injuring over 170, some critically.

“We are co-operating with the city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and all federal law enforcement officials in the investigation and the effort to bring those responsible for this tragedy to justice, so we are limited in what information we can provide,” Grilk said.

Grilk vowed the city and the world famous marathon would bounce back from this.

“Boston is strong. Boston is resilient. Boston is our home. And Boston has made us enormously proud in the past 24 hours,” Grilk said. “The Boston Marathon is a deeply held tradition, an integral part of the fabric and history of our community.”

Grilk said they had 8,500 volunteers and 1,000 medical personnel working the event who saved lives and helped get the wounded emergency treatment.