London Marathon 2018 live on the BBC

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World-class athletes and thousands of fun runners and fundraisers come together once again to compete in the 38th annual Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday, 22 April, live on BBC One.

One of the world’s most famous and colourful marathon events, almost 40,000 people will be taking to the start line for this year’s edition, which will feature many of the biggest names in professional long-distance running.

With the traditional distance of 26 miles and 385 yards, the London Marathon takes in all of the usual famous and iconic landmarks of the capital city, including the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye and Buckingham Palace, before finishing on The Mall.

This year, the iconic event will be started by Her Majesty The Queen from a special podium in front of the Round Tower in the grounds of Windsor Castle, where she will push the start button.

BBC Sport will then relay live coverage of the start ceremony to the big screens at Blackheath to set off 40,000 runners on the famous 26.2 miles from Blackheath to The Mall.

The men’s elite race is headed by Great Britain’s four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, who makes his first marathon appearance since switching his focus to full-time road racing.

His rivals include defending champion Daniel Wanjiru of Kenya, his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge – who is the favourite to win and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

Mary Keitany starts as favourite to win the women’s race for a fourth time and she is targeting Paula Radcliffe’s world record as well.

The Kenyan will be running with male pacemakers in her bid to break the 15 year-old record having surpassed her women’s only world record in last year’s race.

Keitany will again go head-to-head with three-time Olympic gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba, who has never won in London.

Great Britain’s David Weir set a new record of seven victories in the men’s wheelchair race in 2017 and is back to defend his crown, while in the women’s race, last year’s winner Manuela Schar also returns and faces a daunting field that includes American great Tatyana McFadden.

Alongside the elite racers and thousands of members of the public, many famous faces including sporting heroes, soap stars, musicians and TV presenters will be taking on the challenge of running the race for their chosen charities.

The London Marathon is part of another busy summer of athletics across the BBC, which includes Diamond League highlights, London Anniversary Games, Birmingham Grand Prix and the European Athletics Championship in Berlin.

For more information about the 2018 London Marathon, visit the official website – virginmoneylondonmarathon.com.

The BBC will have the entire London Marathon covered on Sunday, 22 April, with six hours of continuous live coverage starting at 8.30am on BBC One.

Gabby Logan presents the BBC’s coverage from the start and finish points, with commentary from Steve Cram, Andrew Cotter, Rob Walker, six-time London Marathon wheelchair race winner Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson and Paula Radcliffe, who set the women’s marathon world record in London in 2003.

The BBC’s team of reporters, including Radzi Chinyanganya, Colin Jackson and Steve Brown, will be positioned across the course to tell some of those remarkable stories and feats of achievement.

As well as focusing on the elite races, the BBC’s coverage will include special reports and films on many of the inspirational runners who are running for so many reasons and good causes.

In addition to the main BBC TV coverage, fans can also follow the elite races from start to finish on BBC Red Button from 8.50am, as well as amateur runners complete the 26.2 mile course with a special Finish Line stream available via Connected TV and on the BBC Sport website – bbc.co.uk/athletics.

Viewers can interact with BBC Sport’s live coverage by sending in their special messages for those taking part via text, e-mail and Twitter – #BBCMarathon – with a selection scrolling across the screen at various times during the live coverage.

A one-hour highlights programme rounding up all of the day’s stories, key moments and best action will be shown at 7.00pm in the evening on BBC Two, presented by JJ Chalmers.

Prior to race day, there will be a special preview show Saturday lunchtime (21 April) on BBC One – The London Marathon: My Reason to Run – where Gabby Logan looks at the main contenders for the races as well as highlighting some of the runners with the most inspirational human interest stories.

SATURDAY 21st APRIL

The London Marathon: My Reason to Run
PREVIEW  1.15pm-1.45pm

 

SUNDAY 22nd APRIL

LONDON MARATHON 2018
LIVE  8.30am-2.00pm

 

LONDON MARATHON 2018: ELITE RACES
LIVE  8.50am-12.30pm

 

LONDON MARATHON 2018
LIVE  2.00pm-2.30pm

 

London Marathon Highlights
HIGHLIGHTS  7.00pm-8.00pm

 

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