Live Coverage - Part 1 London Marathon

It is surely destined to become one of the great events in British

sport. Jo Pavey there, debut marathon. One of the greatest pieces

of running that we have ever seen. Shoulders burning, fingertips

pushing. Elliot Kear one of the fastest marathons of all time. A

sight to behold, every single year. Hello and welcome to the 2017

Virgin Money London Marathon, We are at the Red Start, the crowds

are starting to build, doing their last-minute preparations, getting a

better nutrition on board. 40,000 runners will start this incredible

journey, 26.2 miles through the streets of London, and they are all

linked, they have a shared experience, whether they are the

elite athletes, good club runners or those just a need to get through in

seven hours. Weeks, months, sometimes years of training, this is

the 37th time this race has been run and a quarter of a million people

apply to bun, it takes a lot of time and perseverance to get your place

at the start and each and every one of them has a unique reason for

running. My name is tenure. Defender. I got that wrong, start

again! I am from Mexico. Canada. Live Avery, 32, from South Wales. I

am running for my father, who is unfortunately suffering pancreatic

cancer. Children with cancer UK, for my mum. I have a point to prove,

having come back from a life-threatening illness. I am

running for a premature baby charity. I am running because, well,

frankly, I am nuts! It is something I have always wanted to do. We want

to run all the major marathons. This time last year I had not run more

than 5k. Why not do it now? Now or never. Just to show I can do it. I

am type one diabetic. To stay fit physically and mentally. We are

running together! Good luck to everybody in that film

and to all the runners who you can see are gathering at the start

here in Blackheath. Awaiting them is a journey

they will never forget. Let's remind ourselves of the route

they will run today. At just over six miles, runners

will pass the iconic Cutty Sark - one of the great trade ships

which now resides in dry dock At 13 miles and the halfway point,

it's the sight of Tower Bridge, but there's still

another 13 miles to go. At 18 miles or so, runners pass

through the business district Still, there's eight miles to travel

but the finish isn't far now. With over two miles to go,

they'll pass through Sometimes this is the area

where the elite races can take And then after passing Big Ben it's

the final sprint home, And, after 26.2 miles,

the most welcome sight It truly is an inspiring place to

be, we will be there a little bit later on.

They are the main landmarks the runners will pass today but this is

really where it starts, the business end of things, because behind me you

can see the trucks that will take all the bags from the runners today

to the finish so they can meet up with their luggage later on. What a

logistical job that is back here. 900 people will help with that

alone. Some very important buildings up there in the distance and the

runners you can see behind me are getting very excited. Good morning!

Getting themselves warmed up, fuelled up, they all look very

excited, some of them clearly don't know what is in store but I have

some guests over here who do. One of them, Ken Jones, 83 years old, 339

days, and Bronte Randle-Bissell, 18 years and three days. It doesn't

take much to work out why they are historical members of the starting

line, the youngest and oldest people to start the marathon today. You

don't eat any introduction because you are all so ever present in the

London Marathon, 37th today. Incredible, you have seen some sites

over the years! It is wonderful now, at the beginning it was pretty basic

but now it is tremendous. The organisation I imagine has changed.

It is wonderful. How fast have you run it? My best is two hours and 50

minutes. Today? Six hours! Still impressive. I am running for my

running club, they are a charity, and also sending money for the

Syrian refugees. Excellent. This is obviously an event you will keep on

doing for as long as your legs will take you around the course. I hope

you will give some advice to Bronte. I have told her to take it easy at

the beginning. Why are you running? I am running for make a wish

foundation in memory of my best friend Leanne, she died two years

ago from cancer but during a period of time when she was well, we went

on her which together with her mum, I went to Florida and we did stuff

like Disneyland. You will be thinking about her today? All the

way. The training has been good, I am a swimmer so my fitness is a bit

there but it is getting used to the impact on my body, but I have run

about 16, 17 miles. Ken has given me lots of advice to keep on going. And

use the crowd, I imagine? They do encourage you to keep going. When it

gets difficult, 20 miles, 21 miles, you have got to did in your reserves

and that is when the crowd helps you. Good luck, both of you,

hopefully we will see you out there on the course today.

Let's bring you up to speed with the schedule today. Ken and Bronte will

start their journey at 10am. Before then, lots of race is getting

underway, 8:55am the Elite Wheelchair races begin, five minutes

later the remaining PARA athletics events. At

9:15am, the elite women's race, they have asked for a women only world

record pace, also a race to determine which British women

qualify for the August World Championships, so a second race

going on in there. At 10am, the men's athlete, and we have heard

that Kenenisa Bekele has asked for world record pace. There will be

lots of stories to keep our eye on. At 11:20am we will be looking at the

other runners. Let's look at the weather conditions, it is a mild

start, 10 degrees, moving slowly to around 14 degrees by the time we get

to 2pm, which is perfect for the elite runners, no rain expected

throughout the day, so that is looking good. Don't forget, get in

touch with us, use the hashtag, #GetInspired. We have to queue up to

speed with what is happening, let's head to one of my colleagues at the

start, he has got dancing feet, you will be enjoying the drummers, but

could Ore Oduba quickstep 26.2 miles to the finish through London. Could

you?! Good morning, Gabby. Not happening! But the marching band has

just struck up and you cannot help but box. But I cannot think of

anything more terrifying than doing a marathon which is why I am in awe

of everybody who takes to the streets of London, not least our

superwomen to the left of me, our sporting superwomen who all have

varying degrees of nerves as they get ready to start the race. Helen

Glover, first London Marathon. You have just come off the back of a 125

mile kayak in 23 hours. What is it with you?! I know! I thought, give

myself a week to recover, fingers crossed I have recovered but I am so

nervous, I am looking forward to it, the vibe and excitement is

incredible. Your partner is next to you, Heather. U2 had your double

gold, it is great to be back seeing you in your sporting paraphernalia.

Heather, you have not been back in the water since you retired in the

summer, but first challenge, never too far away from a sporting event?

Exactly, why not be part of a great sporting event in London? It is

fantastic. I decided not to do an endurance race last weekend to give

myself a chance this weekend! You guys are kicking off the whole day?

It is such an honour, we are starting a couple of the races and

we could not be more proud, so thank you to the London Marathon for

letting us do it. Good luck, don't be nervous. They are! Another double

Paralympic gold medallist as well, retired in February, and someone

else who needs to get back on the start line. Yes, the feeling of

being in competition with someone and yourself is just addicted, every

single person who has ever done a race will know what that feels like,

when you finish, Win, lose, draw, you always have a massive high and I

am seeking back today. The time is irrelevant, it is just finishing it,

enjoying it, raising money for charity. And of course your partner

is a big marathon runner as well so perhaps has given you some good

tips. They were all getting tips a few minutes ago from Chrissie

Wellington whose marathon probably add up to about 1000! This will just

be a fun run for you! I wish it was! I decided against a warm up in the

Thames! I am excited to be here, this is where my passion for

endurance sport first started so it will be great to be able to run the

streets of London with 30,000 others, raise money for charity,

just get to celebrate the power of sport. You guys make me so proud to

know you. We cannot wait to watch them, our sporting superwomen,

Gabby. They are indeed, and they will be mixing it with the masses

out there today, hopefully inspiring people along the way. Not long now

until the start of the first race, the Elite Wheelchair men's and

women's races, and of course David Weir aiming to become a record seven

time winner here in London. Phil Jones reminds us of his story.

He is London's own, record equalling six time champion here, wheelchair

racing wonder and six time Paralympic gold medallist, David

Weir. Going for gold! Pick to win number six in the wheelchair

marathon. His last London Marathon win was 2012 when he equalled Tanni

Grey-Thompson's record. Surely the super seventh could follow? Not so.

Misfortune, malfunction and near misses in June. David Weir finishes

fifth, he just had nothing left to give. Today, he is back to try

again, buoyed by a recent win in the Paris Marathon. His surprisingly

frugal Rio Paralympics last year, when he failed to win a medal in six

events, and his recent public row with Britain's lead wheelchair coach

have been put to one side for now. Will this be his final record

attempt? Quite possibly. Perhaps, then, just one last push for a

magnificent seventh. What a servant of British sport he

has already been, as Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will attest. She is

down on The Mall commentating for us today as always. Good morning,

Tanni. Good morning. There is a bit of a delayed but I know you were

listening to that, you know about his trials and tribulations over the

last year or so, some suggest this could be his last London Marathon,

he said he might make an announcement on Monday. What advice

would you give him? I don't think he is physically done yet, it is how he

is mentally. Rio was tough for him, is huge expectation, everyone who

knew him thought he was not going to win

another four goals, he probably should have won a medal, and making

a decision on the back of that is difficult. He has said he will not

compete for GBA get on the track but on Friday he was talking about the

Commonwealth Games, where he will compete for England, and he said it

could be a maybe, so I don't think he is done yet. I don't want him

making a decision on the back of the day, whether he wins or not. A lot

of people, personally I want to see him have that seventh victory

because I think he deserves it as an athlete. I would also love to see

him carry on road racing because he has so much potential still left in

him as a wheelchair racer, he has not hit his

Let's talk about the field and who is there to beat him, who he will

get the challenge from. Another really strong world-class field?

Virtually everybody in the men and women's race, apart from David Weir,

have come from Boston. Marcel Hug won that. Ernst van Dyk, from South

Africa. They are not going to make it easy for him. You might have a

fewer athletes racing together to try to block him out. There are

eight Japanese athletes, they could race as a team. In the women's race,

you have Amanda McGrory from the USA, Manuela Schar, probably two or

three McGrath is that could challenge, Tatyana McFadden is not

here this year. She raced in Boston, but she had a problem with blood

clots and was advised not to travel. On paper, she looked favourites to

win. On current standing, we are expecting fast times from the men

and women. Thank you so much. We will hook up with you later. Those

wheelchair racers going off first this morning. They will be going

very soon. On Thursday there was an incredible programme, mind over

marathon. It involved eight group of runners that suffered various mental

health issues. They are going to run it for the first time. The charity

of the year this year is Heads Together, led by the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. The aim is to end the stigma

of mental health and raise greater awareness.

If you missed the documentary, it was very powerful.

A lot of people with mental health issues hide it. You wear a mask

every day. People think depression is about feeling sad, it's not. It's

mostly about feeling nothing, completely hollow. For ten runners

lining up this morning, just being on the start line is a huge

achievement. Earlier this year, they were set a challenge by the Heads

Together campaign, led by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince

Harry. They started training to run the London Marathon, despite

suffering from a range of mental health issues. It is estimated one

in four people will seek professional help for the mental

health at some point in their lives. It is a huge and growing problem. As

a nation, we need to grow this. Talking about mental health is best

for everybody, it doesn't matter who you are. None of them had run

before, and the aim was to show how exercise can be a helpful part of

treatment. One of the ten runners is Rhian Burke. Her mental health

issues began five years ago, when her one-year-old son, George,

tragically died from pneumonia. Five days later, her husband committed

suicide. When I heard he had also passed away, my life as I knew it

was over. Me, as a person, changed for ever. The effect it has on you

as a person, I used to be very bubbly and confident, but, inside, I

feel dead myself. For Rhian and the other runners, taking part in the

marathon has given them well needed focus. There has been plenty of

support on hand from the charity's founders, for whom this is an

important and personal cause. I think you are incredibly strong. Can

I ask you one question? When your mum passed away, you were older than

my children. I worry about them growing up. They'll be OK, won't

they? With a man like you, they will be absolutely fine. That's true. --

mum. You never get over it, it is such a huge moment in your life. You

just learn to deal with it. You being there is the most important

thing. You will provide the blanket of stability and understanding that

they need. I can't tell you enough, you doing this is an incredibly big,

positive step. I hope it brings to you what you need. I am delighted to

say that this incredible bunch of runners are with me now. I think

everybody behind us here saw the documentary on Thursday. You would

think we had just have a reunion of the Spice Girls or something. Such

appreciation. An incredible programme. Rhiannon, can you believe

you are here? No, it has been such a long time coming. I can't believe

the reaction, everybody has been so supportive. You have taken some any

physical and mental steps along the way to get yourself here.

Physically, the challenge been everything you thought it would be

and has been running being the biggest challenge? Yes, both

physically and mentally challenging. Mentally, for the reasons a lot of

people know. Physically, it is gruelling. It is a long, long way. A

lot of us have been injured, we have struggled at times. But we are all

here today. What has it meant, having each other in this group?

It's meant everything. Training for the marathon would not have been an

easy thing to do at all if we didn't have each other. For want of a

better word, we are broken people, but to have love and respect around

you is incredibly vital. Willing to do it as a group, with each other's

support. I imagine there might be a bit of competition four times as

well? Who is the quickest? There is no competition for times. I'm not

going to say who, they might attack me afterwards and tried to sabotage,

but I think I might beat everybody. What are you going for? I will be

happy with everything, if I get to hug people, hi-fi everybody, take in

the atmosphere. I don't think that will be a problem, there is so much

love and support on that route. It is an emotional day anyway, to be

out there and running. What has it done for your life, Rhian Burke?

out there and running. What has it done for your life, Rhian A lot, it

has given me confidence, given me routine, lifted my self esteem and

self worth. To know you are not alone in the journey of torment.

Life goes on. I think all of us are going to take a lot from this

experience. Do you think you will carry on running? Is this something

that is now in your life for ever? Of all of these guys, we set off

from day one, myself and Charlie, that it is for life, not just for

the marathon. Whether it is walking, jogging, running, they have all

understood that getting out the front door can help with mental

well-being. Hopefully, the nation will recognise that. For people

watching, inspiring people to get up and get moving, how it can help you,

mentally, so much? We are in a beautiful place as a nation, where

the conversation is now taking place. What this has done has given

people a solution to that, which is fantastic. Lace up, get out the door

and find a friend to do it with and it will help. We will keep across

your story and watch out for you crossing the finish line. We are

willing new one. The Heads Together story is so big. Ore, you have two

runners? Yes, Adele Roberts and Nick Bryant. The nerves are here. How are

you feeling? I feel great, but my watch tells me my heartbeat is going

really fast! This is a lie in for you guys? I start my show at 2am, I

don't mind being awake at this time. A Royal exchange for you earlier

this week. What was the motivation? Prince William and the Duchess,

Kate, came to work, to radio one, to wish us luck. They gave us tote

bags, with goodies. A banana, orange juice, which I dreamt last night,

because I didn't have any drinks in the fridge. I was shovelling down

tuna pasta last night. It has been a whirlwind journey. I only found out

in January. The wait is almost over. Best of luck.

You can see the wheelchair racers were getting ready to start, this is

the Blue Start. There are three starts, the Blue Start, the Red

Start and the Green Start. The Elite Women and the Elite Men's wheelchair

racers. There is Manuela Schar, Miranda McGrory.

The different courses have huge effects on wheelchair racing in

particular. You can see Jade Jones there. We will be looking to see if

she can post a decent time today. Amanda McGrory, she lost out to

Manuela Schar in Boston, but got the better of the Swiss athlete. There

is the dominant Tatyana McFadden, missing Boston to do but clots, so

Manuela Schar has been the athletes to beat. There is the man to beat

for the men's race, Marcel Hug. 31 years old, the Swiss athlete. He was

in David Weir's shadow for a while. The tables have turned. Second here

last year, Kurt firmly. -- Kurt Fearnley. There will be some

noise for this man. This, his 18th London Marathon. Six times a winner.

A magical four gold medals in the Paralympics in London.

Last year he finished third and he struggled in Rio. What can he

achieve here? Heather Stanning, getting under way. Tanni

Grey-Thompson, we have been chatting a lot about this, the difficulties

of the course. So different to Boston, which they raced recently.

For wheelchair racers, it is a quick course. This can be fiddly? The

London Marathon course twists and turns. The profile drops in the

first ten kilometres. Quite early you started in roundabouts, there

are speed ramps for the first mile and a half. We have a big pack of

men on the right-hand side. Everybody wants to try to jump into

the draft, because it makes such an advantage. Marcel Hug is taking it

out, he will want to control the race. Kurt Fearnley is in second.

David Weir needs to run a smart race. He doesn't want to do too much

at the front to conserve his energy. It is so different to the other

races we will see today in terms of how you recover. People say, my

goodness, they raced in Boston and they are racing again here. It is a

different thing, you put in effort throughout the course, but you have

time to rest as well. We will run through some of the main runners and

riders. We will look down the course. You have the Blue Start, Red

Start and Green Start, they converge eventually. These are some of the

main contenders in the men's race. This is how they are standing, from

the World Para Athletics World Cup. Marcel Hug is the favourite in this

today. Ernest Van as well. It has all changed, without Tatyana

McFadden. She has won the last four here. Without her, Manuela Schar is

the one to look out for. Susannah Scaroni worked with her at the

University of Illinois. It looks like they are settling down into a

different race, the women, they are not trying to jump into the pack

with the men. Around these bends, when it starts bunching up, you have

to be careful. There is not much space. They are probably pushing

1890 mph. -- 18 or 19 mph. Marcel Hug is looking very comfortable at

the moment. In the green chair behind, you can see Simon Lawson,

who had a fantastic Boston Marathon on Monday and did a huge personal

best. He is now the fastest Briton. It is interesting that you talk

about Simon Lawson, he is a T53 racer, which means he would be more

impeded than T54s. There is also a T52 race taking place as well. They

have slightly less function? T52, that is very limited hand function,

they will be posting slow times, they pushed differently to the 5354,

who have stomach function and full chest function. It is looking a big

pack of athlete at the moment. Simon Lawson is looking in a good

position. David Weir in third place, looking very comfortable. This is a

good review to see techniques involved, to see the chairs that

they use. They are high spec. You put in a few punches, you can set up

and look around. In the first five kilometres, there is a very steep

downhill section, from Woolwich, towards the Thames. They can build

up some huge speed? Down shooters Hill they could be going up 35 or 40

miles an hour. Marcel is having a look around. It is probably the

biggest men's pack that we have had in the London Marathon for eight or

nine years. It's interesting that there is already this number of

people that are staying together. On the left-hand side, we have Heinz

Frei from Switzerland. This is a difficult part of the course. I drew

breath, because if you are drafting behind people, you can't save which

way people are moving. You are not necessarily going to see where some

of the barriers are. Off they go to deal with all of the

road furniture there, the speed bumps and traffic islands. We will

head back to the start. Because also taking place here today, the IPC

Marathon World Cup braces, different categories, T11-12, men and women,

and we will explain these, men keep 35, we have seen the real chair

race. -- the wheelchair race. Away they go here.

Also here you have T11-12, the para-athletes with severe visual

impairments, they run with guys, that is a race for men and women.

T13 para-athletes is for visual impairments. T45/46 are for lower

and upper arm impairments. These are the athletes running here, they have

to have very good guide runners who do all their training with them as

well. Again a very strong Japanese contingent here. Off they go in the

World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup. This is the T11-12 Starc list.

Again, he records she and Kumagai of Japan will be contenders there. A

huge contingent over from Japan. Tim Prendergast in the T13, he has been

based here a while, he goes for New Zealand. T45/46, the para-athletes

with lower and upper arm impairments, this is just men in

this category, no women running in this category today. Derek Rae goes

for Great Britain. So, back out of the wheelchair races and a reminder,

you might be watching the London Marathon for the first time, but

they are pretty far east, they start in Greenwich and head further east,

Shooters Hill Road out towards Woolwich, then down towards the

Thames and head back West. Still on the south side of the Thames, they

eventually will cross, at about the halfway stage, at Tower Bridge, then

back towards Canary Wharf, back down the embankment towards Buckingham

Palace and home. Marcel Hug took them out, but the best way to think

of this is perhaps not in terms of standard marathons but in terms of

cycling races because that is how it works, with packs, drafting,

athletes working off each other. It is much more similar to cycling than

to running. That is why the athletes can race back to back, most of the

field have done Tokyo, Boston, sale next week. The recovery is much

quicker because it is about momentum, not gravity, it does not

put as much pressure on your body and if you are in the middle of the

pack, we can see David Weir in the blue top there, he is getting a

draft, conserving lots of energy. It is a really good place for them to

beat. The danger at this stage with such a good pack, you may get some

people who go for a do or die move and try to sprint of the front and

one a brave race. It is way too early to do that at the moment. We

talked about David Weir, there will be a lot of attention on him but he

was confident when he spoke to us a few days ago. I am happy to be in

good shape to compete, I don't put that pressure on my shoulders. I

wait until the morning and see how I feel, but I'm in pretty good shape,

I'm happy with my performance over the last couple of weeks. I won the

Paris Marathon in a good time, I broke away from the field at 21

miles, I felt pretty strong, and it has given me a lot of confidence for

Sunday's race. David Weir, he is part of this pack that got to the

second mile in about 3.48, slightly slower than the first mile but there

is such difference, I walked the course yesterday, the undulations,

which obviously for the runners later on is a bit of a factor but

for the wheelchair race as it is exaggerated tenfold. Yes, they all

talk about the wheelchair race being a series of sprints joined together

because you have to turn around the bends, the up and down the course,

constantly digging. You can see now as we are getting to a faster bit of

the course, Cassidy on the left-hand side, he is always quick to pick out

in a park with his bride wheels, it takes some time to built to the back

of the pack. They are coasting downhill now, probably hitting 30

miles an hour at the moment. You cannot quite see the speed but this

is where it gets interesting because of coming around the bends. They are

splitting up at the pack. To come back together. You work in coaching

the lot and so much is about Ebbo dynamics, you think of time trials

on a bike, it is about load and narrow as well. They do so much work

on the aerodynamics. They are all trying to talk down and not lift

their head too much, always a potentially dangerous part of the

course because if you are not looking where you are giving you

could hit a bump and at this speed even hitting a stone on the road

will take you out of the chair. It is learning not to panic at this

point in the race, because you will make that distance back up. But it

is interesting to see how the Japanese athletes are racing,

slightly as a team at the moment, I would have expected as the Ernst van

Dyk and Kurt Fearnley nearer to the brunt, but they might still have a

bit of lactic in their arms from the weekend, so not being too brave at

the moment. You said before the race won of the groups who would not be

afraid of the downhill is the Japanese athletes and it was

Hiroyuki Yamamoto leading down there so they have had the breeder down

they'll come around the roundabout, closer to the Thames now but

Yamamoto is still leading them out at the moment, but the pack will

come together as they head deeper into the course.

Don't forget you can continue watching uninterrupted

coverage of all the elite races - including the wheelchair races -

Don't forget to send us your messages using the hashtag,

#GetInspired. And the sun has come out here at the Red Start, it really

is now building up to be a fantastic atmosphere. I wish I could get

through to you the smell of Deep Heat which is prevailing here!

If running the London Marathon was not enough for you today, how about

getting up a bit earlier and getting married? That is exactly what these

two lovely people did this morning. At 7:30 this morning

that is what 35-year-old Man and wife, congratulations! Whose

idea was this? I'm afraid it was mine. Duncan proposed three weeks

before he was diagnosed -- before I was diagnosed with an aggressive

breast cancer and it could have ripped us apart. Two and amazing

charities gave me back my smile and reminded me of what it is we are all

fighting for in life, and they gave us hope, and that is why we have

gifted our wedding back to them. An incredible thing to do, selfless

thing to do, and to agree to it and go along with it as well, because I

think it was Jackie! It certainly was, I just kept saying yes, so here

we are today! Good man! Jackie, your story goes back further than that.

It does, a decade ago I had my pelvis rebuilt so I spent by 20s

learning how to walk, I could not dance at my friend's wedding, and

bearing in mind I have not dance that my own yet, I am risking that

now. But I want to show the world that where there is a will, there is

a way, and you can go a long way with the right people by your side,

the right charities, and love will get you ground. It will, but not

together, ladies and gentlemen, because not an Orthodox way to get

married, then you have decided to go your separate ways at the start, you

are a bit quicker? I am going to start by running away! My gift to

Duncan for agreeing to do this and track the Great Wall of China for

our honeymoon is he gets to run this in a time he wants deep. I will be

bringing up the rear, hopefully not hobbling around, with my dad, who

also has a hip replacement, so it will be an epic day. It will be an

incredible day, the sun has come out, good conditions, nobody wants

rain on their wedding day! And compression socks and erupted as

well! Very fancy wedding shoes today! Very best of luck with the

race, of course, and the marriage, and the honeymoon as well. When you

are out on the streets of London, I guarantee you will get incredible

support, the streets are lined, and today when they look at the Elite

Women lots of people will recognise a familiar face, elite athlete Jo

Pavey. She is one of a group of talented British women looking for

qualification for the World Championships in August in London,

and we caught up with her a couple of days ago.

Jo Pavey, a way she goes! A glorious, glorious run! Goldsboro Jo

Pavey! We haven't seen you for a while, how have you been? All right,

just putting in the training, keeping going, having the focus of

the London Marathon has kept me motivated and I have enjoyed the

change in focus, looking forward to it. When did you make the decision,

was it after radio? I presume the 2017 World Championships is

something to did not want to miss? Absolutely, I would love to compete

in the 2017 World Championships, home soil, fond memories of London

2012 and what the home crowd feels like so that is a motivation. The

marathon, though I have done a couple, it felt like a new

challenge, something that would keep my motivation going, just such fond

memories of competing in it before and wanting to give it another go.

Jo Pavey there, debut marathon. My first marathon, which was the London

Marathon, I definitely learned the hard way. People said, you have to

pace yourself, it is so important, and I thought, yeah, yeah, I thought

I was listening but when the gun went off I just went for it, I

wanted to be competitive and I was not ready to be up with those top

girls and I definitely felt delirious in the last 40 minutes of

the race, trying to push myself to the finish line, thinking, I have

run this really badly. You are still a novice at the Marathon so how do

you approach that? I am getting older now but the Marathon is an

event where I could potentially get APB. The build-up has been

consistent, I have trained really hard. I have had more illness than I

would have liked but any busy parent can relate to that, little ones

bringing home bugs! The perfect is never -- the build-up is never

perfect for any runner, you just have to deal with the ups and downs.

There she is, she has run this before but she think she has eight

PB in her today and she might need that if she is going to qualify for

the World Championships, because there are some strong British women

out there. To explain that Battle of Britain and also tell us where the

elite race is going to be won, we can join our commentary team of

Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, and, Steve, I have to say, normally I

would not introduce you last, but for the very last time, welcome to

Brendan Foster! His final and 37th London Marathon, an emotional day

for all of us, Steve? STEVE CRAM: yes, already a tear in

our eyes in the commentary box. We are hoping to have a bit of bone,

with Brendan over the years it has been nothing more, certainly for me,

than an massive privilege, really enjoyed having him alongside me for

so many years, but he was here long before I came into this commentary

box so we will talk more about Brendan during the morning and I

will introduce him in just a moment. First of all, he would think it only

right that we go through this elite field, as a fitting tribute to

Brendan, the women's race is probably the greatest women's field

we have ever had. You saw Jo Pavey there, Gabby was right, Jo has got a

contest on her hand for the British quest to get into the team for the

World Championships, many other athletes doing the same but these

are the ones who will be contending to win the London Marathon. Mary

Keitany, who has done it before. Mare Dibaba, the world champion.

Some great names from the track, Tirunesh Dibaba. Those are the

British athletes, Alyson Dixon who represented us in Rio last year,

Charlotte Purdue looking to get onto the team, do what she did not manage

to do last year, perhaps the favourite amongst the British

contingent. Let's go through them individually, the main contenders.

Her first ever Marathon, Olympic champion over 5000 metres, multiple

world champion on the track, Vivian Cheruiyot. Racing here in London, a

city she describes as her second home. Tigist Tufa knows how to win

this, she did it in 2015, second last year. Mary Keitany will be the

favourite, two-time winner, coming back in good form in 2017. World

champion from 2015, Mare Dibaba. Ethiopia's first ever world other

than champion, a surprising fact, considering the likes of Tirunesh

Dibaba over the years, still getting to grips with the Marathon event. We

talked about this British battle which we will follow, Charlotte

Purdue, Alyson Dixon, Susan Partridge, Jo Pavey, one or two

others to watch out for as well, so we will keep you well informed right

through the next 2.5 hours or so. Here they go, then, the 2017 Elite

women's field, ready to go. The countdown to what we hope will

be a classic race. Our two Olympic heroes look down on

this stellar field as they had off on their own private quest. The

Elite Women get the roads all to themselves. Pacemakers, wearing

black and white stripes. For those that don't know, it is the club

strip of Shaftesbury Harriers. It's not a nod towards the great

Newcastle United supporter, who is going to be sitting here for the

final time, Brendan Foster. I was not going to mention the football

this early! But I was looking forward to mentioning it later on,

because things are changing in the football world in the north-east. I

am sure that will come later. This is a significant event these days.

This is a great field. One of the best fields we have ever seen in

London. A real race here, where women take centre stage. That is

absolutely the right thing. Wonderful to see. Paula, you must

feel the same call? Wonderful to see. Paula, you must

feel the same Yes, I am looking at perfect conditions, perfect

temperature, hardly a breath of wind. The sun is already out in

Blackheath. It is starting to peek through at the finish, at the Mall.

It is a great place to come and run, and know you are in shape, go out

there, absorb the atmosphere. I remember my dad, when I did my first

run, 2002, saying, you will get to the Isle of Dogs and there is nobody

there, you have to keep your focus. It is packed today, there will not

be one quiet spot. I said it is one of the greatest fields, full of

world champions, world record holders on the track, full of

Olympic champions. But the world record holder is sitting here, we

have been listening to her. Mary Keitany and others will be chasing

what they hope will be eight quick time today. It can sometimes be

confusing for those that are not aficionados. There is a world record

for the women only race, also held by Paula Radcliffe, apart from the

fastest time ever run, and that is 2:17.40 two. That is kind of the

target today. Most of all, there will be interested in winning the

London Marathon. An update on the wheelchairs?

A few gaps appearing for a moment. Things are, as we expected, close

together. We have a fantastic finish last year, the top ten athletes were

separated by just a few seconds. We expected to be pretty much the same

again in the men's race. Just a few bits of road furniture to deal with.

You get an idea of the twisting and turning nature of the course, as

they come round Cutty Sark, about ten kilometres, just beyond six

miles or so. The likely contenders are still up there, Tanni? The

biggest pack we have had for some time. The Cutty Sark is the real

challenge. You lose a lot of speed, there are speed ramps, drops up and

down. The road surface is not always that good. Potholes in the road, but

can move the pack around. You see athletes starting to spread around.

Like cycling, you come wide to get around the bend. It is looking

really good at the moment for the number of guys that are there. Yes,

we have the top 18. 18 who are really a little bit clear of the

rest. All of the likely contenders up there, David Weir, Marcel Hug,

Kurt Fearnley, Ernst van Dyk South Africa. We expect to see and Welsh

are winning this one, she is a clearer favourite than we have in

the men's event. We will update you once again with the wheelchair

racers later on. -- we expect to see Manuela Schar winning. The Elite

Women's race, Kiplagat coming to the front. To elaborate on the British

women, there are three places available, most of the women in the

field in contention already have qualifying times for the World

Championship. It is a case of the top three, Jo Pavey will be hoping

she can get in there with Charlotte Purdue, Aly Dixon, they are the

favourites, if you like. We will be trying to keep an eye on how that

goes. Charlotte Purdue is rumoured, I was talking to Charlie over the

last couple of days, she seems very relaxed. The diminutive figure, with

the blonde hair, the back. Jo Pavey, and then Aly Dixon, the Sunderland

Strollers. We have four or five that will be hoping this is their

day-to-day. Charlotte Carter pacing and athlete.

They are all wearing black shirts as well, normally it is black and white

stripes and red shorts. I am sure it is just for you! You are just egging

me on. I am going to say it now, things have changed in the

north-east. Last year, Newcastle got relegated, you sent me a text,

saying, here is the route to get the Burton Albion. To be honest with

you, I will return that text to you this year! And I am going to tell

you that Fleetwood are going well. You might be visiting them next

season. I have got that out of the way. 1-1, now! I look forward to

visiting both of those wonderful towns. Anyway... More of that later.

The women's elite, they have struggled, the organisers, when you

are going to run at a record pace, you find good pacemakers, getting

them is quite difficult. There is one pacemaker for the lead group,

plenty of them asked to go with the pace. They will be running at around

218 pace until halfway and then see what happens. They have gone through

the first mile in 515. They are well upon the schedule that they asked

for. In the first mile, you want to stretch your legs, see how good

people are feeling, get rid of some of the nerves and butterflies, and

settle down into the pace they want to set. They are dropping back a

little bit. Already, Mary Keitany is committing herself at the front. One

piece of news that athletics fans will be aware of his last year's

winner, the Olympic champion, not here. If you remember what happened

last year, it was a really dramatic race last year. We had a couple of

people falling. You might remember that Jemima Sumgong had quite a

heavy fall. But she came on to win the race, and then went on to win

the Olympic title. A month ago, she was found to have tested positive

for EPO. Let's hear the thoughts of Jo Pavey. I think it is a shame that

you have a winner like Jemima Sumgong testing positive. They are

just ruining the sport. We are glad she has been caught. That is one

thing to say. You had so many years when you did not really hear about

come petition testing happening in Kenya. -- competition testing. The

fact that is happening now is fine. But it is a shame that there are

still people cheating the system and ruining the name of the sport. You

want to believe a good performance, you want to look at athletes winning

the Olympics and big events and admire their performance. People

like her are ruining the sport. Every time you see a good

performance, you are wondering, is that for real or not?

As ever, pretty strong words from Jo Pavey. We should mention the fact

that the positive test was part of a wider testing programme that the

World Marathon Majors, including the London Marathon, contributed funding

towards, which resulted in that, in and out of competition test. We have

to say, the B sample has not been tested yet, she failed the A test.

It does reflect rather poorly on Elite Women's racing, particularly

on the roads and Marathon? It certainly does. When you look at it,

you have this young lady from Kenya, Jemima Sumgong, she has robbed the

sport of a fantastic London Marathon last year. She robbed the sport of

that performance in the Olympic Games. You cannot continue taking

the goodness out of a sport like this. The great athletes we have had

from Kenya, they are equally as dismayed, including Mary Keitany. At

least with the new regime, Seb Coe and the IAAF, they are going after

them in a big way. Thank goodness for that, let's hope for the future,

when we are watching performances, watching athletes like Mary Keitany,

knowing that there is no cheating going on. You cannot continue in a

sport where you can believe what you see. That last point about not

believing what you see, unfortunately, it reflects on

performances from others. We have had a new world record in the half

marathon recently. Inevitably, people just point the finger. We

don't know one way or another. It just takes the belief system away,

doesn't it? Absolutely, that is what it is about, having the credibility

there. The credibility for people watching the sport, parents taking

their children to the tracks to get them involved. And for the other

athletes, they have the right to be able to put in a good performance

and have people believe that, show it is the best that they can do.

What is happening when we don't have a good enough testing system in

place that all of the cheats are being caught, and when we get more

and more people being caught from the same country, there is a case to

argue about whether Kenya should be subject to some kind of ban, in the

same way that Russia was? I don't think it is as institutionalised in

Kenya. But there are fingers pointed at other Kenyan athletes because of

what some athletes in Kenya have chosen to do, they have chosen to

cheat and they have damaged the reputation of their country. I think

the difference is, in Russia, it is institutionalised cheating. In

Kenya, it is random cheating by people looking for an advantage. The

great distance running nation of Kenya has fantastic athletes, and a

huge number of them have been legitimate. But when you look at

that run in the of the games, I described Jemima Sumgong's run as

textbook distance running. Really, it wasn't. It was textbook cheating.

I am horrified that it actually happened. A great nation, let down

by an athlete, Jemima Sumgong. We will head further into the

course, and the Elite Wheelchair racers, the men, it is still a

pretty big group which is out in front. Almost those 18 that we

talked about at the last update, you can see Marcel Hug in second place,

ahead of David Weir and Kurt Fearnley, with the vest. Behind

that, the Japanese racer Yoshida. They are not far from crossing the

river. They will go around the entire course in about one hour 20.

The current pace, the men are lucky about one hour 25. The first half is

quicker than the second, so they might lose a couple of seconds. Josh

Cassidy, from Canada, looks like he's having a bit of a break. It

looks like he doesn't want many people in the pack. He is looking

over his shoulder, so it doesn't look like a serious attempt. He has

got his head down. He is good and downhill. He won Boston a couple of

years ago, got the best time. He is playing to his strength, which is

really important. Trying to adopt the tactic of trying to hypnotise

his rivals with those wheels! The women's race, the three we

highlighted at the start, Manuela Schar, skip leg Susannah Scaroni,

Amanda McGrory, they have broken clear. The three that we thought

would be contending in the women's are clear. Josh Cassidy is having a

go here. It is not a breakaway, it is just something where the pack

will bring him back in. We can join the women's race. The news already

is that Mary Keitany has decided that the fast-paced that had been

asked for, the others are sitting off this. That is a little

surprising. You can understand Vivian Cheruiyot thinking, it is my

first marathon, I won't go for it. The second mile was below five

minutes. It is a quicker mile, they have broken away early. My concern

for Mary would be that there is only one pacemaker here. I feel sorry for

her! She could have a lonely run today. She has asked for fast pace.

She has broken away from the leading pack at a fast stage, not even at

five kilometres. She means business? She certainly does. This is the fast

mile, now, the third mile, when it is downhill. But she ran 4.59 for

the second mile. I think the girls behind are absolutely on the pace

that they asked for, and she is way ahead of that. I mean, she is ahead

of the pace that I ran in 2003 at the moment. She definitely has the

bit between her teeth and is really attacking today. I don't feel too

sorry for her, I didn't get a pacemaker that went past five miles!

I am going to get a lot of all our yesterday's from Brendan and Paula

today. Sertic stall out very early today. Already a 50-metre lead on

the rest of this brilliant pack in 2017 London Marathon. A long way to

go, which we always say. I have repositioned to the start and

the behind me, full of anticipation about the royal starters who will be

coming along a bit later, because it is not long now until the Elite Men

and masses go off on their 26.2 mile journey. And there is added

poignancy and in motion today to this incredible human race following

the recent and shocking at Westminster.

Just a month ago a terrorist attack tour at the heart of London. Five

people simply going about their business will not return home, will

never return home. PC Keith Palmer, Aysha Frade, Kurt Cochran, Lesley

Rhodes, Andreea Cristea. The collective shock and horror was soon

replaced by capital defiance, a determination not to be cowed, a

city replenishing its soul but never to be quite the same again. Today is

the first time since the Westminster attacks that London can truly come

together as one United capital. Massive unified in a celebration of

humanity, most healing. And it is the way that we know and

love London, and we will see that hopefully a little bit later on

today but I have got two very special people with me now who are

running today with memories of people lost in that attack and also

running for the police dependents trust. Mauro Pizzale and Julie

Henderson. Tell us your connection to the attacks. I was running

already the Marathon and then that terrible tragedy happened, so I

decided to dedicate this run and start raising money for the

families. It touched everybody, family, colleagues, so I tried to do

my best for John and for the girls and me with the run and everybody

else with the fundraising, so it is a special day. And you will get so

much support out there on the streets of London, and the beauty of

this event is not just the support and camaraderie but the

international flavour, that is what we know and love about London. That

is what London is about, I have been here for 20 years and it has been

amazing, it is such a special place, so many different nationalities,

multicultural, that is what we want. Inspector Julie Henderson, can I

just cut across you, Mauro, to get into Julie, you were on duty on the

day of the attacks, what was your role? I was responsible for the

intelligence response to what happened on the day, we needed to

find out what happened, where it happened and get the information to

the troops as quickly as we could. I already had a

place in the Marathon, so I dedicated it to the Police

Dependence Trust. They support the families of officers who have been

killed and provide financial support and occupational health soap --

occupational health support, counselling and things like that,

they need ?2.5 million per year to keep running so I am trying to raise

money to make sure we can continue to support those who help us all. We

saw you yesterday go down to the point of the attacks and lay a

wreath, already there have been so many floral tributes and candles

laid at that point. You must see the best and worst of mankind but does

it always surprise you how incredible people are in times like

this? Yes, yesterday, and on the day in question, it shows how powerful

we all are when we all come together and nothing will take us down, we

unite together as a community and that is police, emergency services,

members of the public as well. Only good things come from bad stuff, and

we do see a lot of things that nobody should ever see but we also

see the best of everything as well, it is a great job to have and I love

it. You have policed the Marathon in recent years so you know what it

takes to get to the finish line, so best of luck to you, Julie, and to

you, Mauro. OK, let's head out and have a look at some of the people

you might also see out there today because you might recognise some

faces, not necessarily from the elite races but there are plenty of

celebrities raising money for good causes.

Famous faces to spot on course today include... Match Of The Day to

present a Mark Chapman, 4.5 hours is his aim. A similar target for his

BBC colleague Chris Evans, Radio 2's regular London Marathon entrant. Sub

four hours is the goal for former Manchester United and South African

footballer Quinton Fortune. Olympic champion rower Helen Glover is no

book out of water, three hours 20 years her target. And a modest 5.5

hours will please ITV news reader Nina Hossain. Paralympic grower

Pamela Relph has her sights set on a time just beyond four hours.

Professional TV viewer boggle box's Baasit Siddiqui is on a four hour

mission. Kevin Sinfield is hoping to add a London Marathon medal in four

hours. Adam Woodyatt, East End is' Ian Beale, is playing it safe with

an estimated finish of around seven hours. TV presenter Sian Williams

thinks she is in for our 20 shape. But let's face it, to pin it at all

is a major feat, whatever the time, for our runners today -- to finish

at all. Feast your eyes on these famous

faces, we will introduce them as we move along the line. Quite a few of

them, all nervous, I'm sure, some more than others. Chris Evans, you

have done this over and over, why did you keep coming back? Because

these lovely people keep paying money to Children In Need to join

us. They are going to New York as well, they bid lots and lots of

money and they are so excited. A bit too overexcited last night! Not the

perfect pre-Marathon preparation, I have to say! What do I need to

know?! Guinness! I will show you the video later on! At the end of the

Marathon! Good luck to all of you. Chris, everything that you guys do,

brilliant. We are very excited, very lucky to be here, thank you for your

support, we hope everybody has a great day, it is the best thing you

can do with you have a chance. We have another barrel of people here

looking forward to it, Sian has done this before, but maybe a few more

nerves this time around? Yes, I think everybody is running for a

reason, I am running for Heads Together, and it is a mental

challenge for a lot of us and I think many people here are going to

have to dig deep. I am holding your hand and I am not even running! This

is not the place for recruitment! This is not happening! We will talk

about is another day! Shane Williams, Quinton Fortune, Mark

Chapman, the man of Steel Kevin Sinfield as well, and Baasit

Siddiqui, we have got to talk to you because you will be running this

race with a Kamworor going live for BBC Sport Facebook live? That is the

plan, 26.2 miles with a Kamworor phone on my head trying to capture

it live, so if you hear a grown man crying online, then you know what --

with a camera phone on my head. My dad and my brother are putting up a

fence today, so they are going to send me pictures showing that they

are just chilling. I think that is called family motivation! Very best

of them to all of you guys. Right on cue, the drummers have just

started behind us here, they are fantastic. Enjoying them next to me,

I am in an Ian Beale sandwich, which was a thing at one point! Adam

Woodyatt and Sam would yet, his son. When you had the cafe, plenty of

sandwiches in there! Come on, Adam! A Beale LT was actually on the wall

in the cafe! Adam is actually Ian Beale in Eastenders, the longest

serving, ever present here in the Marathon, almost the same in East

Enders. I have only done 32 years! And now the Marathon is a father-son

challenge, and there is an incredible story about you two, you

are running for air ambulance and you signed up to run for that but

what happened? He got hit by a car and we had to have London ambulance

out and saved him, basically, put him in an induced coma at the Royal

London, put back together again in a five-hour operation. How long ago?

Seven months, I think, September. Seven months and you are here on the

start line? I bet you did not think that would be possible? I wanted it

to be possible so I worked quite hard to make sure I was recovered,

and I'm here, feeling good, fully recovered physically, so, yeah, I am

stoked. You have seen the web the air ambulance do so when times get

hard on the course and it starts to get painful, you can dig deep and

you know who you are doing it for. Yes, I have been a patron for them

since 2004, so it is giving something back to them. How long

will it take you? I am aiming to finish today! That is my target, I

am just aiming to finish. Sam, when are you going to finish? Hopefully

below 4.5 hours, I would like to have managed a sub four but I have

not been able to train as much as I would have liked, so hopefully below

four. Certainly a respectable time with a four in front of it, maybe

seven for Adam. A father-son combination here, coming in at a

more leisurely pace than the women who are going out there already on

the streets of London. How is Mary Keitany getting on?

STEVE CRAM: the last we saw, Mary was storming ahead, the young lady

next to her getting nervous, but I think Mary Keitany might be

overcooking this a bit. She was on about 2.11 pace, probably quicker

than any of the British men will run today, which is a bit silly early

on. Mary is a great athlete, knows what she is doing normally, but has

gone off at a crazy place, I think Wade to past, we will have to watch

that, as we look at the chasing group, Tracy Barlow at the back of

that group, I think that is. No, this is the chasing group, the

British are a bit further behind, actually. The British group has

started pretty quickly, actually, obviously heading at around 2.28

pace but they are a bit inside that, 17.25 in the first five K, but the

gap, Mary Keitany is leaving Tirunesh Dibaba, Vivian Cheruiyot,

who are running more sensibly, it is she going to pay for this? This is

the nominally quick to be running, even for a half marathon. Mary

Keitany has run very fast in the half marathon, 65.13, and she is not

far off that pace. What she will be seen, on the lead car in front of

them, they now see the cumulative time that they are running, the last

kilometre split, and the predicted finish time, so at one point in this

race she will have seen 2:10.41 pop-up that predicted finish line

and if that does not make her think she is going to

quit, either she is in outstanding shape and extremely, extremely

confident, or hopefully is going a little bit too fast too early in

this race. She has done that before, she did that in New York in the

Marathon in 2011, she set off at a very fast pace, went through in

about 67 for the half and really paid for it in the second half.

Meanwhile in the wheelchair races, Tower Bridge, the men's wheelchair

racers are some way through Tower Bridge and up. There was what we

thought was a crucial break at Tower Bridge and beyond where the three

main contenders, Marcel Hug, David Weir and Kurt Fearnley, broke clear,

but then they were reeled back in, so this is as it stands now as they

head through Wapping and out towards the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf,

so everyone back together again, Marcel Hug, defending champion, just

tucked in behind David Weir, Kurt Fearnley, this gap all still

connected, in with a chance. This was as they came through Tower

Bridge, they are some way past this now, all still together. We thought

the gaps might open up as they came up the slight incline away from

Tower Bridge but eventually they were reeled back in. Further down

the course, they are all together again.

Here at the start a tremendous atmosphere is building, the masses

are getting ready for the start, the drummers have just played out as

well. I can see the flashes of the bulbs going off because the Royals

have arrived and they will be starting this race, Prince Harry and

the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose charity, Heads Together, is

the official charity this year, aiming to break the stigma of mental

illness and mental health, open up that conversation to the masses.

They have been doing that this week, there

It means a lot to me. It's amazing. I never get tired when I am running.

I just want to keep going. I could do it the whole day, to be honest.

Five years ago, I came to London, to participate in the Olympics. Since

that time, I haven't been back to my country. I was born in Somalia, in

1991, in Mogadishu. I started when I was five years old, playing

football. Then I started with basketball and ended up running.

Where I lived, it wasn't acceptable for ladies to do sport.

It was really difficult, especially for the ladies. They knew I was

sporty, so it wasn't safe. It was my dream to represent my

country. I ran the 400 metres. I was so happy. The whole nation was

keeping an eye on that race. It was a clear message, showing that

Somalia is still alive. Going back to my family wasn't

really good... Sorry. They knew that even if I go back to

Somalia, I wouldn't be safe. So it was good news for me and my family.

Britain is different. It was another world to me. I ended up becoming

homeless. It was hard to find where to live... Who I go with. Then I

found a hostel. When I was in the hostel, I met the running director,

they were working with the homeless. Zamzam was going to go first. I got

back my motivation. They treated me the way I wanted to be treated. They

helped me, the way I wanted to be helped. Britain is my country right

now. It is where I changed my life. It is where I feel safe. This

marathon is my first time running here. The reason I am running is to

show the other women that live around the world, who didn't get the

chance that I get, to show them, do what you want to do. Follow your

mind and your heart. An incredible lady and an incredible

story. Highlighting once again the power of running. We hope to be able

to catch up with Zamzam later in the day. She is one of 40,000 running

today. We hope she has a good day, and everybody else. Shortly we will

switch to BBC One to see the man -- men and the masses depart.

Most people will do it for fun or charity, so we'll do it for a

personal best. Not many will do it for a record, not least a Guinness

world record, which is where my fabulous friends come in. Look at

this! Have you ever seen anything like it? You probably have at some

stage of the London Marathon, which is what this race is all about.

Susan, why don't you tell everybody what you are? I am a giant toilet

roll. Of course! And the record? You'll ago the fastest marathon in a

toilet roll costume, female. You have it nailed on, I am sure. Can I

wipe my hands on you? We have Damian, who has gone more simple.

Guinness world record, fastest marathon in Wellington boots. I've

never run in them before. Not even a metre? No, they are going on ten

minutes before the start. I hope you get enough spring out of them. Mr

Potato Head is here, inside there, Bob? Where are you? I'm here!

Through this slot. I can see you have glasses, great vision, what is

the view like inside? Great, I'm fine. I need to get under five hours

for a world record. You've got it! You have got it, Potato Head. Karen,

or Theresa? She gave me that joke! How does it feel on the inside?

Quite heavy, I didn't realise how heavy it was. But I am branching

out! OK, let's keep it quick. Martin, or, as we are calling you,

the fastest man dressed as a shoe? And the mystery machine, a five

person effort. What are you going for, what is your target? Nobody had

ever done it, we are going for six and a half hours. Scooby Doo, I'm

looking at you! They stand out from the crowd. The

crowds are full of anticipation for the start of the elite men's race.

We will move to 1 for that. You can see them lining up. The man they

have to beat is a true great of the sport.

In a world where the word great to be overused, all the term legendary

athlete questioned, Bekele is deserving of both tributes. He is

the stellar name in the elite field. On the track, the Ethiopian

long-distance runner was a dominant force. He won't five world titles

and broke the 5000 and 10,000 metre world records. His 2014 transition

to the roads brought him victory in his marathon debut in Paris, in a

course record time. He is only just returning from injury last year, and

still finished third in his London Marathon debut. He controversially

missed selection for the Olympic team for Rio, only to deliver the

perfect response, Triumph in the Berlin marathon in the second

fastest time ever. Today, he will have Eliud Kipchoge's record in

mind, and made further cement his legend with a new world record, and

two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds. Only true greats can afford

themselves such rarefied opportunity.

That is the word on the street, he has asked for world-record pace is,

music to the ears of Brendan Foster. This is your 37th and final London

Marathon, what a way to go out that would be. Are we going to see that?

I commentated on his first-ever International race, a cross country

in the north-east of England. At the time, I thought he was going to be

great. I didn't think he was going to be discreet. I would love to see

him go out with a run like that. I am nervous for him, he had a few

niggles in the past week. Kenenisa Bekele, some of the greatest of all

time, could he win the London Marathon, in a world record? We will

see. We will also see some of your great moments over the last 37 years

when we moved to BBC One.