Weir looks really happy. He’s at peace with himself and, having quit the track, with his racing. He is an exceptional human being.
What a finish that was!
Romanczuk moves aside, and here comes Weir! Hug, the Silver Bullet, can’t compete! This looked like it was going to be tight, it is tight, but there’s no doubt at all who’s going to lead them home!
The wheelchair race is still close; Hug, Weir are led by Romanczuk as they come round onto the Mall!
Farah’s lifetime best is five minutes down on some in the field, but it’s noted in commentary, as it was with Dibaba, that you don’t want to run a marathon on your bill.
Farah has no rejoined the main pack, just at the back. He’s also wearing fluorescent yellow sleeves.
Keitany is about a Tower Bridge ahead of Dibaba, 15 seconds; it’s still thought Dibaba is reigning it in. The world record is still on, but they’ve slowed slightly.
“Surely no list of the best songs about London would be complete without this little gem?” emails Michael Cosgrove.
The elite men are absolutely bousting. Cram hasn’t seen a field of this calibre broken up like this ever – they’ve gone at 4.20, 4.32, 4.43 I think, 15 seconds ahead of world record place. Farah must know this is too much, but he knows he can’t let the group get too far ahead. He’s sort of gone, sort of not gone, and is in touch but not quite in the pack.
“Greetings from Blue Start, zone 5,” tweets the Guardian’a Stuart Goodwin. “Katie Price has just walked past, dressed as a lung. Hope that’s for charity, or she’s doing running gear wrong.”
Schar and McFadden are second and third in the women’s version, and they look to be doing fine.
The men’s T53/54 wheelchair race is close as we near the end. Weir and Hug are in the leading pack of eight, and it’s going to be a finish. They’re lining themselves up to make sure they get a good angle on the bend.
We’re back with the women’s elite race; Dibaba is struggling, maybe 20m down, and verily Keitany is not. They’re 51:16 at ten miles, 32s inside Radcliffe. It’s possible that Dibaba is backing off because she thinks that’s too fast.
Jane Beedle
(@Janebbakes)Here at the start of the @LondonMarathon it’s all so real now. Very excited and not a little scared. pic.twitter.com/S5RAFuWg0o
April 22, 2018
“What surely is the world’s greatest marathon,” says Steve Cram impartially. Watching the pictures, it seems pretty hard to argue to the contrary, so I won’t bother. London, what a gaff.
In that connection, you should read this:
Back to Switzergate:
添柏司 TDP
(@tianbosi)This has been acknowledged in the @guardian piece on Switzer already. Point is she bandited the race, while Switzer ran as an official entrant.
April 22, 2018
She presses the red button, and off we go!
The Queen is out and the national anthem is playing. It’s great to see her finally get some recognition after all these years.
However, Sean Ingle reports thusly on Kenenisa Bekele: “Apparently he’s cut out the pizzas (he was 4kg overweight last year and his agent Jos Hernans gave him a dressing down in Berlin) and not been injured in his prep. So you never know. Kipchoge is immense though.”
Kipchoge has only been beaten once over this distance, and almost broke two hours last year. It’s going to take some to beat him.
“Enjoy the Queen setting us off from Windsor.” Oh I will, Gabby; oh I will.
Mo Farah is wearing both sunglasses and orange.
The elite men are out and limbering up, but it’s so warm they don’t really need to bother. The PA is imaginatively pumping Eye of the Tiger.
North Ken are running for Kids on the Green, a new charity aimed to ensure that for kids affected by the disaster, it doesn’t become a life-defining event. Find out more here.
In memory of and tribute to those who died and survived the Grenfell disaster: members of the North Kensington fire service are here, in red vests; Paddington are doing the first and last mile in full kit.
Keitany and Dibaba are shoulder to shoulder after five miles, at 25.33 – a second slower than Radcliffe. They originally asked to be quicker, so perhaps it being this warm this early has altered the plan.
Soldiers are playing music. They’re not really dressed for the weather.
Richard Newbold
(@NewboldRj)@DanielHarris Take a read of https://t.co/b0TzrHiTd6 rather than repeating the “Katherine Switzer was first” myth
April 22, 2018
Mo Farah is talking about how running a marathon is more fun than running on the track. He says that in 2014, his tactics were wrong – you can’t give the experts half a mile and expect to chase them down.
Adele Roberts is talking about how much running benefits mental health. She was a star of the greatest ever Big Brother – don’t @ me, fight me.
There’s a bloke on telly who’s running across America, Forest Gump-style. He’s come back to see his baby daughter, he’s not shaved since 2016, and he’s flying back for his last 200 miles. He looks not unlike the below, and is so, so happy with life.
Best songs about London – I’ll start. This, for what it is, is perfect. I was about to type “absolutely perfect”, but that’s tautologous, yeah?
We see some VT of Keitany from earlier in the week, and she calls Radcliffe “a legend” but wants to see if 2.15 is possible.