London Marathon 2019 live on the BBC

The BBC will have comprehensive coverage of the 39th London Marathon, one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the athletics and wider sporting calendar.

Over 40,000 people will cover the 26.2-mile course around the streets of London, and from the elite racers to the fun-runners, every one of them has their own unique reason why they are running, in what is regarded as one of the most famous and inspirational marathon events in the world.

They range from all abilities, ages and backgrounds, and the majority will be raising money for many charitable causes, with last year’s runners helping to raise a staggering £63.7m for charity.

The elite races take centre stage in the morning and the men’s field contains Great Britain’s Olympic legend Sir Mo Farah and he will be aiming to win the race for the first time, having claimed his maiden marathon victory in Chicago back in October. But he is up against arguably the greatest marathon runner of all time in world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.

The women’s race is set to be fiercely contested as three-time winner Mary Keitany aims to dethrone defending champion Vivian Cheruiyot, while British hopes include Lily Partridge and Tracy Barlow, who finished eighth and ninth respectively last year.

Paralympic legend David Weir competes for an incredible 20th time in the London Marathon, aiming to extend his record number of victories in the men’s wheelchair race to nine, while Australia’s Madison de Rozario hopes for a second successive victory in the women’s event.

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.

Follow the 2019 London Marathon  across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Red Button and online on Sunday, 28 April, an event starts another busy summer of athletics across the BBC, which includes Diamond League highlights, London Anniversary Games, Birmingham Grand Prix and the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha.

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

The BBC will have the entire London Marathon covered on Sunday, 28 April, with six hours of continuous live coverage starting at 8.30am on BBC Two, before switching to BBC One at 10am.

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 women’s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe.

The BBC’s team of reporters, including Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers, Radzi Chinyanganya 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 8.55am, 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 6.00pm in the evening on BBC Two, presented by JJ Chalmers.

Prior to race day, there will be a special preview show Saturday lunchtime (27 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.

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SATURDAY 27th APRIL

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SUNDAY 28th APRIL