It now looks just a matter of time for Marcel Hug. He is well clear in the men's wheelchair race as he chases his fifth win here in a row.

Catherine Debrunner, going for her third title, is flying in the women's race too. A record time could be on the cards for her here.

Paula Radcliffe
Former women's marathon world record holder on BBC One

Assefa and Jepkosegi are really pushing Sifan Hassan hard. She is not panicking though.

There is now daylight between them though.

Hassan isn't in unknown territory and neither is Assefa as they have ran this pace before. Jepkosegi is because she's ran a half marathon at this pace but not a full marathon.

BBC One

Gabby Logan spoke to Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe on BBC One, fathers of Alice and Elsie who were tragically killed in the Southport attack, ahead of them taking on the marathon in memory of their daughters.

Aguiar started by describing Alice and why he is taking on this challenge: "Alice is a beautiful, young and very kind girl. She is my dream daughter. She is everything.

“I’d never thought about doing something like that before. I wanted to do something for her and I’ll be doing my best.

“Running is helping a lot. It’s hard because some days you don’t want to do anything because of the pain but this ahs helped to move forward."

David Stancombe, Elsie’s dad, added: "Elsie was perfect from the day she was born. Everything I ever wanted. She was truly my best friend but not only mine because as a family we were four best friends. Just an absolute dream of a child.

“That’s the reason I am here. Elsie asked [last year] and I would do anything for her. Given the opportunity to run London today I am so grateful. I am doing it for Elsie.

“Doing the school run is hard enough but having this to focus on, going out there and running and thinking of Elsie, is like therapy. It’s been more than just a run for me."

Alex Yee was in 22nd place when the men's race just passed through the 10km mark.

He's around 90 seconds behind the leaders.

Eilish McColgan is in eighth, around three minutes behind the lead group in the women's race.

Image source, Getty Images

Lindsey Burrow says her late husband Rob "will be with me throughout" when she runs today.

Mother-of-three Burrow, 42, is running in memory of former rugby league great Rob, who died in June 2024 after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2019.

Following his diagnosis, Rob and his former team-mate and close friend Kevin Sinfield raised more than £15 million for MND charities

"He will be in spirit with me throughout the whole run, in my head saying 'come on run faster, you can do this'," Burrow told BBC Yorkshire.

"As I lace up my trainers I'll definitely be thinking of Rob and the MND community. That is ultimately why I am running the race, to make Rob proud.

"Rob will will be at the forefront of my mind. It will be emotional but I'm looking forward to it."

We've just had a look back to Greenwich where hundreds and hundreds of runners continue to pour over the start line.

There are so many special reasons why people are running today.

We'll keep on bringing you some of them throughout the day.

Image source, Getty Images

We haven't seen much of Alex Yee in the men's race yet. His switch from triathlon to the marathon is not expected to be permanent.

Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, one of Yee's competitors today, has been in touch to offer advice but he plans to return to his multi-discipline event by early 2026 at the latest.

"To have something which has given me that purpose to get out of bed, to go out and keep searching for those fine margins, I think that's really rare to find in the first year after an Olympics when you hear of athletes soul searching and not knowing what to do," Yee said.

Yee's target? Enjoy the experience - and go through halfway in 64 minutes and 30 seconds.

That would give him the chance to become only the 10th British man to run under 2:09, while only 22 have broken 2:10.

"It would be a massive honour to, hopefully, be in that ballpark of people who have achieved amazing things," Yee said.

"I think it's going to be an amazing day for the Brits but also a historic day at the front."

Read more from Alex Yee on his marathon debut

Paula Radcliffe
Former women's marathon world record holder on BBC One

Sifan Hassan is making sure she runs her own pace.

Can the pacers maintain this pace?

Tigst Assefa and Joyciline Jepkosgei have come here to beat Hassan but it is fast.

They are now too far in to reel it back. They have committed so they might as well see it through.

And just as I write, the pace drops off and Sifan Hassan catches back up to Assefa and Joyciline Jepkosgei.

It's never dull when Sifan Hassan is around!

Well, well.

Sifan Hassan has dropped around 20m off the back of the lead group in the women's race.

Hassan took four months off after winning Olympic gold last summer. Is that playing a part?

She stopped at the side of the road with an injury and still won in 2023, however. Don't count her out.

Hassan's big rival Tigst Assefa has the early advantage.

We're an hour into the wheelchair races now and Swiss pair Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner remain on the front of their respective races.

Debrunner has a big lead.

Hug, targeting a fifth London Marathon win in a row, is 11 seconds or so ahead of Tomoki Suzuki in second.

Paula Radcliffe still holds the fastest time by a woman at the London Marathon.

The Briton's time is not the official record, however, as it was done with male pacemakers.

The women's only record (two hours 16.16 seconds) was set by Peres Jepchirchir last year.

Eilish McColgan - on her marathon debut, remember - is currently running on her own, having dropped off the back of her group.

The crowds are massive in this early section and the Scot is getting plenty of support.

At the front, the leaders are running well inside the course record.

Paula Radcliffe
Former women's marathon world record holder on BBC One

The job of the pace maker is to also be aware of the runner behind them, so the closer the pack are behind them the more they will keep going at that very fast pace.

I think what Sifan Hassan is trying to do is sit back off their shoulder. She's well aware that if you go too fast in this opening miles you will overcook your race and pay for it later on.

There will be live coverage of today's event on BBC One and BBC Two throughout the day.

You can also watch at the top of this page.

At the moment there are two options - the BBC TV coverage and uninterrupted action of the elite race.

Later on you'll be able to watch out for your loved ones on our fixed cameras on Tower Bridge and the Finish Line.

Image source, Getty Images

The elite wheelchair races were the first to get under way earlier and as they reach the halfway stage, last year's winners in the men's and women's races are going well.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland is aiming for his seventh win in London - and fifth in a row - and has built up a healthy lead with Japan's Tomoki Suzuki his nearest challenger, around six seconds back.

It was much closer in the women's race with Hug's compatriot Catherine Debrunner, going for her third win on this course, battling it out at the front with American Susannah Scaroni, who triumphed at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

However, Debrunner has now pulled clear. Plenty of time for things to change but it's looking like another Swiss double at the moment.

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's Mahamed Mahamed finished a surprise fourth last year and could well be the fastest Briton this year with Emile Cairess, who finished third in 2024, out with injury.

He has been training in Morocco in the build-up, balancing his schedule with fasting as part of Ramadan.

"[I have been] Fasting through the day, training at night," he told the BBC.

"The track here, they kept the lights on all night for us – I also prefer to train at high altitude.

That and the fact we’re all fasting together just makes life easier. There’s a togetherness and we all push one another.”

Steve Cram
Athletics commentator on BBC TV

It's always one of the best sporting days on the calendar.

Resilience, community spirit, people pushing themselves physically and physiologically, the big crowds, iconic landmarks and everything in between, that all comes together to make the London Marathon.

Image source, Getty Images

In many people's eyes, Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest distance runner in history.

He became the first man to run marathon in under two hours in 2019, although that is not an official record because he did so in controlled conditions.

Now aged 40, the Kenyan is back to run the London Marathon for the first time since 2020. He failed to finish at last year's Paris Olympics but says he still has "races to run".

"Last year was a tough year but sport is built by challenges, by dedication," he told the BBC.

"A big option is how a man wakes up when he fails, how a man wakes up when he is down on the ground.

"That is why I am waking up to inspire people. Let us make this world a running world.

"After making it we will reap a lot of benefits in our health, minds, families, communities, nations, continents and in our world."