Here's the start of the elite wheelchair race with David Weir aiming to win a record seventh London Marathon title. He will have to go some though to beat the USA’s Joshua George who claimed the win last year.

• Name: Tigist Tufa
• Age: 29
• Country: Ethiopia

Tufa was a surprise winner ahead of Kenya's two-time champion Mary Keitany last year. 

She sprinted clear late on and clocked 5 minutes, 19 seconds on the 23rd mile to finish first with a time of 2:23:22.

In doing so, she became only the second Ethiopian ever to claim the women’s title.

In August, she finished sixth at the Beijing World Championships and third at the New York City Marathon in November.

Image source, get

So some 40,000 (ish) folk will batter the streets of London today but I guarantee those of you watching at home or on the side of the course will at least shake your head in disbelief at what the elite men and women are doing. There'll be sub five-minute miles for fun deep into the race. My car struggles to go that quick on a winter's morning. So who are this crew of speedy daredevils? Stick with us and we'll run you through them.

Image source, Getty Images

lzbth: Good luck to fabulous daughter Claire running her 1st London Marathon. She's never boring, that's for sure.

Malcolm Jacobus: Good luck Lindsey Bowers running her first Marathon.

Charlotte Louise: Good luck to my AMAZING cousin Amber Cornwell. Mega proud of you! See you at the finish line.

Image source, AP

Former England defender and BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Danny Mills on BBC One: I'm running for the Bobby Moore Fund. I have the great honour of wearing the 1966 race number.

"I am hoping the crowd get me round. Anyone who is watching, get out on the streets, come support us. It is going to hurt."

Our IPC World Cup athletes are off, wheelchair racing in the T53/54 categories. Next on the start line is the Men's T11/12 athletes, these are competitors who are either blind or visually impaired. Off they go... 26.2 miles of road stands between them and the finish line.

Image source, BBC Sport

After a car accident, 37-stone Stuart realised he needed to do something about his weight and joined his local slimming club. He started with walking with colleagues in his lunch hour, then short jogs, then runs - and lost 22st and 9lb, but he hasn't stopped there.

Stuart already completed a 10K race, three sprint triathlons and a half marathon and now, at the age of 44, he's getting ready to take on his first full marathon in London.

"To me the London Marathon is the most iconic sporting event in the country and I have a chance to show myself 'I can' and show others that it is possible and there is nothing to fear about losing weight. I no longer have to pretend I'm happy, because I am absolutely happy."

"Twenty years ago I lost my mum to pancreatic cancer and it is a great opportunity to raise money whilst remembering my mum and all that she meant to me."

Stuart is running for Cancer Research UK, external, with a target time of four hours 30 minutes and his race number is 53813. 

You can read more inspirational London Marathon stories here.   

Britain's Paralympic champion David Weir is among the pack for the men's wheelchair race. He's looking for a record seventh title here in London.

But he's against a strong field featuring Marcel Hug, Ernst van Dyk and Kurt Fearnley.

So can the Weir-wolf do it? Here's what Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson had to say on BBC One.

"It could come but it's going to be tough after the Boston Marathon. Others are used to doing races so close together.

"Wet conditions really suit him but other top racers are going to work together to try and beat him."

Image source, get

Our first action of the day is about to get underway as the IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup athletes are in place on the start line.

The final preparations, a nod to the cameras, this is an international field packed with talent and dreams of Rio 2016 to fuel their challenge.

Great Britain's Shelly Woods - a two-time winner and Paralympic silver medal winner - is in the field.

Earlier we told you about 82-year-old Ken Jones who is running today having completed every London Marathon since it began in 1981. 

Ken said he feels "at peace with everyone" when he runs and added "I plan to go on and do the 40th Marathon and then I will retire."

Watch the video above for more on Ken's story.

The leader of our nation has spoken and he is giving a Twitter-shaped fist bump to the charity runners.

We will bring you some heart-warming tales on people running for wonderful reasons next...

A breakfast of champions from Dame Kelly Holmes, who is running her first ever marathon.

Major Tim Peake loves a challenge, doesn't he?

Everyone's favourite spaceman is going to provide a 10-second countdown at the beginning of the race (from space, naturally) 

He will himself be running the 26.2 miles (42km) - but strapped to a treadmill aboard the International Space Station.

He has recorded a good-luck message, ending with the 10-second countdown, which will be shown to the runners on a big screen.

Now while our coverage on BBC One and Radio 5 live are the beast seat in the house to watch this sporting spectacle, I can't say we provide the best seat in the universe. What am I talking about, just wait a second to find out...

It looks set to get slightly warmer by midday as you'd expect but the wind will pick up. I'm reliably informed warnings of snow earlier this week will not come to fruition, phew.  I'm also told we may see London bathed in sun at some points.

In a nutshell, it's a day of mixed weather it seems. Mixed weather to complement the mix of emotions on the streets, just perfect.

Click this link to watch a detailed forecast.

If you're keeping an eye out for a loved one on television then you may need to watch for that wet look they sport when soaked to the skin.

One of our reporters has sent us this image of The Mall and Buckingham Palace looking rather wet. A more detailed weather update next...

I'm nervous just sat here bashing the keyboard. 

If you're on the tube on your way to the race, using a map to pick out a spectator point, or just at home watching the coverage on BBC One, let us know on #GetInspired.

We will bring you a weather update next. A warning, brolly needed.

Here's something else that was happening at the London Marathon Expo - a parkour demonstration. 

We're presuming these weren't competitors warming up!