Rugby League star Kevin Sinfield was running his first marathon today - and loved it....

Maybe it's the weight of the medal that's knocked him out?

That's Gareth Williams, who finished in a very impressive three hours 17 minutes and 17 seconds.

Find out how other runners did here., external

Sam: Good luck Gill and Dave, you are both totally amazing! Love from Sam, Philip and Muldoon xxxx

Clare Bovill: Please thank Brendan Foster for his fantastic commentaries. Ask him if he could mention Richard Nerurkar - I love the way he pronounces his name!!

Worth stopping for!

BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth has followed in the footsteps of James Cracknell (1:16) and posted a PB today.

"I took six minutes off it! I've been training so hard to go under 3:30 and I've done it by a minute," she said.

And she had this tribute for departing commentator Brendan Foster:

"Brendan got me into running 10 years ago when I did my first great North Run. Obviously, this is his last one and I have his voice in my head when I'm running. Especialy in the last 5k, I kept thinking about him and he spurred me on!"

"I’ve walked a bit recently and I feel so guilty because the support is unbelievable. 

But I am just absolutely shattered."

Here's hoping Mark Chapman can go the distance and make it in his target time of 4 and a half hours...

Remember US athlete Fred Lorz? Probably not. 

But Fred has footnote status in Olympic history as the man who cheated in the 1904 St Louis marathon, getting a lift from his manager for 11 miles, then running into the stadium to win gold. 

When the subterfuge was discovered, he was stripped of his medal and banned but then allowed to continue competing after apologising! He even won the next year’s Boston Marathon.

Different times, indeed. But cheating is still a live issue in marathons, as this BBC report discovered.

Aly Dixon and Charlotte Purdee, the first two Brits across the line in the women’s elite race (see 11:45), have been speaking to Gaby Logan...

Charlotte: “Last year was disappointing but it was my first marathon. This was my third in a year and I’m really happy to qualify [for the World Championshipsin London this summer]. Being only 25, I’ve got about 13 years left in me - if I keep improving who knows what can happen?”

Aly: “I was trying to use the crowd to judge how far behind Charlotte was. Today I just went for it. I wanted to see how far I could go. It’s looking really good for this summer – we’ll have a really strong team. He next layer are coming through and were getting good strength in numbers now.”

Image source, BBC Sport

Watch Fran's story as she prepares to run the London Marathon for Guide Dogs for the Blind. The 20-year-old is registered severely sight impaired but she won't let that stop her. 

All morning Gogglebox's Baasit Siddiqui has been streaming a Facebook live from his head-cam for us.

He's been doing brilliantly, chatting away along the route and he's now past 22 miles and still going strong. 

The Marathon Tracker predicts a finish time of 4:21:29.

Keep going, Baasit!

Here's just some of the cheery faces that will  be lining the streets of London today to give that extra encouragement to all the runners.

Send us your photos using #GetInspired

Image source, @JamboDove

Image source, @claremcpartland

Image source, @unitedresponse

We’ve become used to the men’s race being dominated by African runners - so much so that the last winner of non-African heritage was Portugal’s Antonio Pinto in 2000 (Khalid Khannouchi, who won in 2002, is a naturalised American, born and raised in Morocco).

Daniel Wanjiru kept that record going today, but the millennium provides a real before-and-after watershed for London. Pre-2000, only one African - Kenya’s Douglas Wakiihuri in 1989 - had won here since the event’s inception in 1981.

But the real pioneer for African distance running was Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila, who won the Olympic marathon in Rome in 1960, running barefooted (pictured below). He was the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal.

Image source, Getty Images

Dale Lyons is running his 100th marathon today - on his 80th birthday.

Amazing!

All the very best to all members of the boys’ brigade taking part in the London Marathon today!! From Lt. Andrew Rampley, member of the Bournemouth Stedfast Association

Good luck Alice on your first marathon From the Taylor family

Good Luck Dr Charlie Fry, running for Whizzkids. Keep on Running!Chas, Nanna and Pop-pop

Don't forget the volunteers! My beloved husband hasn't got an entry despite trying for years, but he got up in the small hours in order to go and make the day good for all the runners.Mx Flash Bristow

Share yours: use #GetInspired on social media or text us on 81111.

Props for Jade Jones - a hugely promising talent in the women’s wheelchair race - from fellow wheeled racer Callum Hall.

Luke Reddy
BBC Sport reporter at the London Marathon on the course

Image source, BBC Sport

Looks like Luke is putting in some good consistent miles out there on the course with some negative splits (running faster later in the race than you have earlier on).

Don't forget you can track all the runners taking part on the London Marathon website., external

Olympian rower James Cracknell has finished in a personal best of 2hr 43min:

"I was going for under 2:50 and was running with this guy from Medway Harriers – then he told me he was going for 2:45, so I thought I might have gone off a bit too hard.

"For 10 years all I did was full-time endurance training, but if you blow up on a boat, at least you're sitting down! If you blow up running, you're on your own. It’s a tough, tough sport."

He's blowing a bit, but he definitely didn't blow up. Congratulations, James!

Image source, BBC Sport

From high-rise to high-brow.. 

Here's the Victoria and Albert Museum's take on marathon day - featuring the original marathon runner, Pheidippides, who ran approximately 25 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of the Persians in 490BC.

Image source, V&A

Ellie Thomason
BBC Sport at London Marathon

Want the best view of the London Marathon? Tower Bridge has it covered. 

The glass walkways offer a perfect view from up high, though it's slightly terrifying walking on the panels! 

If you haven’t been following the elite races this morning, or if you just want to check all the facts and stats, check out the race reports on these links:

• Men’s and women’s wheelchair races
• Men’s and women’s elite race