A day after a bomb scare shut down New York City’s Times Square, the Pittsburgh Marathon was also affected by an explosive device.
After the elite runners had finished, police diverted the runners away from the area where a microwave containing the explosive was found. People in the area reported hearing an explosion around 10:45 a.m. A bomb squad was able to use a robot to disarm the device without incident.
The bomb squad gave the all-clear shortly before 11 a.m. and police then turned toward squelching a rumor circulating through some race checkpoints that the marathon had been called off. The threat prompted marathon officials to call off the awards ceremony that customarily follows completion of the race.
Kipyegon Kirui, a 29-year-old Kenyan, won with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes.
