Participants in yesterday's Belfast marathon could have been seriously injured by a bomb planted on the route, police said.
The bomb was discovered at Gideon's Corner, Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of the city. Assistant chief constable for Belfast, Duncan McCausland said it "could have led to serious injury or worse for the sports men and women enjoying the Belfast marathon", which he described as "a well-organised and attended cross-community event".
Some of the main competitors had already passed the part of the route where British army explosives experts were brought in to defuse a live device. The race had to be diverted.
Marathon director David Seton said it was better to disrupt the route than stop the race altogether. "We had to make a decision very, very quickly what to do. We decided to reroute them.
"That's added a few hundred metres on to the race. But we thought it better to do that than anything else. The majority of people will run slightly more than the 26 miles, 385 yards, but there was no alternative.
"It was either that or abandon the race which we obviously didn't want to do, with people having trained for this length."
Journalist Éamonn Mallie said he received a bomb warning after the race had started. The caller threatened to kill Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable Hugh Orde, Mr Mallie said. "An anonymous male caller said volunteers under command have abandoned a device.
"He told me the Belfast marathon was just a frill on the six-county state. And then in the last line he said: 'Tell Hugh Orde we will get him the next time'."
Mr Orde, who has completed several marathons, was in the field for yesterday's race. It is understood he pulled up early however, due to a leg injury.
Belfast lord mayor Tom Ekin (Alliance) said the bombers "were prepared to try and remove one person, with the potential risk of killing or maiming hundreds of others. That's the level of these people. They are damaging our whole society and we have to get rid of them."
The race was won by Kenyan athlete Erick Kiplagat in a time of two hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds. Alan McCullough, a brother of former boxing world champion Wayne, was the first Northern Ireland finisher, in fourth place. - (PA)