After insisting the marathon would go ahead as a symbol of New York getting back to normal, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bowing to growing public pressure, pulled the plug on Friday.

“I’m so upset, we were told the marathon was on until yesterday. We fly in and learn at the airport it’s cancelled,” said Scott Solvsig (39) who travelled from the US state of Missouri to here.

Some 47,000 otheru00a0runners were in a similar position, many of whom had flown in from other countries.