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On Monday morning, the Boston Marathon started off like any other.

Jubilant runners in bright clothing stretched to prepare for the 26.2 miles ahead of them. Family members, non-runners and friends alike gathered on the sidelines to cheer on the athletes. That unmistakable Boston pride enveloped the city.

But this year, in the wake of last year’s Boston Marathon twin bombings, security is tighter, police are vigilant and the runners, though stronger than ever, notice the slight difference.

“It’s different, coming back,” said Gisele Goldstein, 55, of Germantown, Tenn., who planned to run her 12th Boston Marathon this year. “It’s not just me – there’s a sadness.”

The city has deployed extra police officers and more security cameras — more sophisticated than the ones that picked up grainy images of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — to keep the 36,000 runners safe. And fans have been urged not to carry backpacks, as both of the Tsarnaevs’ pressure cooker bombs were concealed in them last year.

According to NBC:

More than 3,500 police officers, double last year, will be along the route. More than 100 cameras have been set up in the Boston stretch alone, and authorities will watch the finish-line crowd from more than 50 “observation points.”

In addition, 13 miles of steel barricade will line the course.

For emotional support, as Boston remembers the three lives lost during last year’s festivities and the 260 injured, a city hotline will be staffed for trauma counseling, and in-person counseling will be offered at a church near Copley Square.

And despite last week’s incident when a man was spotted walking down the street, veiled in black, carrying a backpack with a rice cooker in it (he was later arrested and the bag, holding no explosives, was destroyed), officials aren’t worried about a copy-cat attack on the city.

“People don’t have to worry about anything here,” Mayor Martin Walsh told NBC News.

We wish all the runners the best of luck as they embark on that grueling, but rewarding, 26.2 mile journey. Stay Boston Strong.

SOURCE: NBC, HuffPost | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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