London Marathon LIVE: 'Hardest Geezer' Russ Cook among record 50000 running race

Some early pictures as participants arrive at Blackheath for the start of the marathon:

This year’s London Marathon will make history as it becomes the first marathon in the world to pay wheelchair racers the same prize money as their able-bodied counterparts.

London Marathon wheelchair races were already the richest in the world, but a further increase of $54,500 (£43,000) to the prize money in 2024 means the total prize pot stands at $308,000 (£243,000), creating parity with the elite men’s and women’s able-bodied fields.

This means that all winners in the elite races of the 2024 London Marathon will receive $55,000 (£44,000), with the runner-up earning $30,000 (£23,700) and third-place $22,500 (£17,800).

Here are today’s start times, with the wheelchair races kicking things off just after 9am on a fresh morning in London. The elite women’s race will get going just before half past nine, ahead of the elite men and then the mass start.

9.05am – Elite wheelchair men’s and women’s races.

9.25am – Elite women’s race.

10am – Elite men’s race followed by mass start.

A father running the TCS London Marathon to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity said his young daughter’s cancer treatment was “a million times harder” than tackling 26.2 miles.

Sky, now aged four, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a tumour in her brain, in April 2021 after her parents noticed she lost her balance frequently and was not meeting some developmental milestones.

Full report:

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the London Maraton.

The event gets underway in a few hours, with elite and charitable runners taking part in the 26.2 mile run across the capital.

Stay tuned for all the latest updates.

The London Marathon returns in 2024 with another action-packed day of elite and charitable racing.

The annual road race in the English capital is again held in a traditional slot in April, with thousands entering the mass participation event and bidding to complete the 26.2-mile course.

Here is everything you need to know about when it starts, the route it will take and how to watch:

The ballot for next year’s TCS London Marathon opened on the eve of the 2024 event.

A world record 578,000 people entered the ballot for this year’s event, making it the most popular marathon in the world.

More than 50,000 people, a record number, are expected to take part on what is due to be a dry and bright Sunday with temperatures up to 12C.

This year’s race will mark the first time that wheelchair and non-disabled athletes have received the same prize money for a marathon.

All four winners of the elite races will receive £44,000, with the runner-up earning £24,000 and third place taking home £18,000.

Mr Cook, from West Sussex, said he planned to run the marathon for charity despite only finishing his 352-day challenge on 7 April.

Full report:

Although the winners as not as well paid as in some other iconic sporting events, the elite men’s and women’s able-bodied races and men’s and women’s wheelchair races will all have a prize pot of $308,000 (£243,000)

Here’s how much the winners will receive: