Ethiopia's Shura Kitata wins men's title after thrilling sprint finish
World record holder Eliud Kipchoge finishes shock eighth
World record holder Brigid Kosgei of Kenya retains women's title
David Weir misses out on men's wheelchair title as Canada's Brent Lakatos wins
Nikita den Boer of the Netherlands wins women's wheelchair race
Races took place in bio-secure closed course over 19 laps of a 1.5 mile circuit
45,000 runners took part in virtual London Marathon across the world
Hannah England
Former world 1500m silver medallist on BBC TV
These guys have had a lot to contend with both mentally and physically this year but you would expect Kipchoge to put his foot down pretty soon.
The lead group come through halfway in 1:02:54.
You don't need a degree in advanced maths to work out that they are well off the pace that Kipchoge set en route to a 2:01:39 world record in Berlin in 2018.
A finishing time around two hours and six minutes brings a whole host of Kipchoge's rivals who wouldn't be able to cope with a faster time into the equation.
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It is a comparatively leisurely pace for the guys at the front of the race.
Kipchoge and co click through in 57.12 for 12 miles. There won't be a world record today. There might be some fireworks though...
Image source, PA MediaMo Farah is doing a pace-making shift today. The four-time Olympic champion is trying to set a trajectory for the Olympic qualifying time of 2:11 for this fellow Britons.
This was the moment that Sara Hall overhauled the world champion Ruth Chepngetich to take second in the women's race.
London Marathon: Kosgei defends title as Hall finishes second in thrilling sprint finish
Image source, Getty ImagesKenyan Marius Kipserem took exactly two minutes from his personal best when he won the Rotterdam Marathon for a second time in April last year.
The 31-year-old now has eight victories from his 17 career marathons since 2011, while he has also finished on the podium in Eindhoven and Milan.
His personal best is some three minutes slower than Kipchoge though.
Image source, Getty ImagesMule Wasihun finished third behind Eliud Kipchoge and Mosinet Geremew last year in a time that makes him the eighth-fastest of all time.
He was picked to represent Ethiopia at the World Championships in Doha last year, but had to pull out of a race run in suffocating heat.
Image source, GettyEthiopia's Mosinet Geremew was second in last year’s race behind the great Kipchoge in a time that puts him fourth on all-time list.
He has never finished lower than third in his six marathon appearances.
Nothing too spectacular out on the course just yet, Eliud Kipchoge is in a large group of frontrunners, a flurry of neon and Nike footwear.
Let's meet some of his rivals in the absence of the injured Kenenisa Bekele...
Image source, PA MediaText 81111 or tweet #bbcmarathon
Via text: Wishing Seargent Major Jon Farley good legs as he runs first London Marathon , his course is around Pirbright Barracks . Love from Mum & Dad and family
Via text: Good luck to our Daughter Justina Newman on your first marathon, running for team Becks . You have trained very hard & deserve this, very proud of you lots of love Mum & Dad xx
Via text: Good luck to Tim and Ben who are heroically replacing as many of the drinks stations with pubs over the course of the marathon today
Meet Dan Nash, the club runner who tweeted his way into the elite-only London Marathon.
Meet the runner who tweeted his way into the London Marathon
Steve Cram
BBC Sport athletics commentator
“If you’re going to do laps, you’d prefer to take the hard corners off. It’ll be interesting to see how they cope with that – also in the wet, it’ll be interesting to see how they cope with that, that’ll be a factor.
“I came out of retirement to run the Westminster Mile three or four years ago when we had an Olympians’ Mile around a mile of that lap, so I know what it was like – but one or two of the corners are more than 90 degrees. So it’s tricky, and wet roads…their racing shoes have very little tread, so…
“And bear in mind, if you go around 20 laps and they go around those – let’s say four – corners, 20 times - that’s 80 times - so if you lose a second every time, in the Marathon, that’s a lot.”
Image source, Getty ImagesThe marathon has a very different look this year.
While the finish will be in the usual place on The Mall, the elite runners will be racing on a 1.3-mile course, with an additional 1,345m to cover after 19 laps.
At the end of each lap, screens will relay individual predicted finish times.
Screens wil keep the race out of sight from anyone hoping to get a peek at the world's best from St James's Park.
Mo Farah has been one of the headliners in this race in the past. Not today.
The four-time Olympic champion has swtiched back to the track, but has a side hustle today, pacing a group of British athtletes to put them on track for the two hour 11 minute Olympic qualifying time.
Farah still has that lovely loping stride. Never mind Vaporflys he looks like he has helium in his heels as he bounces along, checking over his shoulder to check that he is getting the pace right...
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The race is under way. 19 and three quarter laps of St James's Park.
Eliud Kipchoge looks a little like a celebrity out of a jog in Central Park. He is wearing a gray cap pulled down over his eyes in the midst of a mob of companions.
Image source, Getty"I am very disappointed," said Bekele as he withdrew with the race with a calf injury on Friday.
"I truly believed I would be ready but today it is worse and I now know I cannot race on it."
"This race was so important to me. My time in Berlin last year gave me great confidence and motivation.
"I am sorry to disappoint my fans, the organisers and my fellow competitors."
But we still have a field packed with quality.
This was supposed to the prize fight that the athletics world was waiting for.
In the red corner, the world record holder, the sub-two hour landmark man, the four-time championn Eliud Kipchoge.
In the blue corner, the man who went within two seconds of the world record last year, a multi world and Olympic medallist on the track Kenenisa Bekele.
It hasn't worked out like that...
Steve Cram
BBC Sport athletics commentator
We are not going to see any world records but that was a great run from Brigid Kosgei and hopefully we'll see another great run from Eliud Kipchoge.
He copes with conditions better than anybody but is he still as good as he was last year? I expect him to win but he's up against the second and third in the London Marathon last year so he won't have it all his own way.