London Marathon 2023 LIVE: Latest updates as Kelvin Kiptum breaks men’s record and Sifan Hassan wins women’s

And they’re off! The women’s elite race is underway amid plenty of cheers. The weather could impact later on in terms of timings, with rain expected from around 10am local time.

But the expectation is also simply that this could be an epic race with so many potential winners.

Sifan Hassan, Almaz Ayana, Peres Jepchirchir, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and more.

We’ve got the current world record holder, the reigning Olympic champion, the 2022 Marathon winner and a double Olympic champion, the current 10,000m champion and the current 1,500m world record holder.

There’s an absolutely huge amount of talent lining up for the elite women’s race and that’s due to get underway in just a couple of minutes. The athletes are going through their final preparations now.

The greatest distance race of all time, this is being heralded as.

Defending champion Yalemzerf Yehualaw feels in “good shape” as she looks to retain her London Marathon title on Sunday.

The Ethiopian won last year’s race in October with a time of two hours 17 minutes and 26 seconds, which was the third fastest at the event, to finish ahead of previous winner Joyciline Jepkosgei.

Although Britain’s Eilish McColgan has pulled out because of a knee problem, the 2023 field includes world-record holder Brigid Kosgei and reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, while Sifan Hassan is set to make her marathon debut following 10,000 metres and 5,000m gold at Tokyo 2020.

Yehualaw, 23, knows Sunday will present a stern challenge of her ambitions to follow Kosgei in winning back-to-back London Marathon titles.

“I am so happy to be back in London, a beautiful city with a great competition. My preparation has gone very well,” she said.

“I want to defend my title on Sunday and am ready to do my best.”

Yehualaw told a press conference: “I am in good shape. I am just focused on a long run like before (rather than any specific time), and I like that.”

The wheelchair race is all set for starting, Susannah Scaroni in place after just recently winning in Boston.

London’s course record last year fell to Catherine Debrunner - she’s back too.

Eight-time winner David Weir is there and gets a huge cheer as the 43-year-old prepares to start.

Marcel Hug won in Boston for the men last week and he’s here again too.

Gordon Perry hits the button - and we’re officially underway!

The London Marathon returns to a traditional spring date in 2023, with some of the world’s best distance runners set to compete.

The ever-anticipated event has been held in the autumn in each of the last three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, however, it is back to a late April date, with elite athletes and recreational runners all training hard in a bid to complete the 26.2-mile course in the fastest time.

While the charitable efforts of many participants deserve and command much of the focus over the weekend, for those in the elite fields, there is also prize money to be won.

Here’s everything you need to know.

David Weir feels refreshed and ready to go again as he prepares to tackle a 24th consecutive London Wheelchair Marathon – with no plans to retire just yet.

While Sir Mo Farah reiterated Sunday would mark his last London Marathon appearance, Weir, 43, already has his sights set on reaching a quarter-of-a-century of appearances in the showpiece event.

The British para-athlete, an eight-time winner in London, produced an impressive victory in the Paris Marathon at the start of April.

Having finished third in London in both 2021 and 2022, Weir remains determined to deliver another strong display back on home soil.

Here are all the start times for the day with the mini marathon already underway. The elite wheelchair, elite women’s and elite men’s will follow - along with everyone else!

What time does it start?

8.50am BST: Mini London marathon

9.15am: Elite wheelchair races

9.25am: Elite women’s race

10.00am: Elite men’s race and mass start

Millions of mobile phones across the UK will emit a loud alarm and vibrate in a nationwide test of a new public alert system later this month.

The system is intended to be used in life-threatening situations including flooding and wildfires. The message will be received on 4G and 5G mobile phones, along with sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds.

However, the timing will coincide with several large public events including Premier League matches and the London Marathon. Find out more here:

Tens of thousands of people running this year’s London Marathon could be drenched in heavy rain for much of the race, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office has predicted a “very wet” Sunday in the capital with a higher than 50% chance of downpours persisting through a nine-hour window from 7am until 4pm.

Jonathan Vautrey, a spokesman for the forecaster, said runners will experience temperatures of around 10C.

There will be tears when Sir Mo Farah turns away from Buckingham Palace on Sunday morning and dashes down The Mall one last time.

A final marathon for one of the all-time great Britons, who has been humbled by the alluring distance, growing wiser with age as he bids to conquer 26.2 miles for the first time since October 2019 when he finished eighth in Chicago in 2:09:58 - 4:47 slower than his personal best.

Now 40 years of age, Farah appreciates merely stepping on the start line, following a late withdrawal last year in London. Reflecting on a legendary career, which included four Olympic gold medals and the British marathon record, Farah is savouring the journey.