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Today marks one of the most exciting annual sporting events on London’s calendar - the London Marathon.
Each year, this 26.2 mile race takes place in London where an estimated 39,000 people participate - just a fraction of the record 386,050 who applied to take part in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon.
The sight of thousands of runners pounding the pavement is sure to spur on some motivation to sign up for next year’s race - find out how to below.
How do I sign up for the 2019 London Marathon?
While the 2019 London Marathon ballot isn’t yet open, it is usually open for five days at the beginning of May - so you have five days to decide if you want to enter or not.
Last year’s ballot was open from Monday May 1 to Friday May 5, so will be similar dates this year.
The only requirement for entrants is you need to be 18 years old on the day of the race, after that all ballot entries are drawn randomly and people will be notified if they have received a place or not in early October - only then will you need to pay the entry fee.
London Marathon 2018 25 show all London Marathon 2018 1/25 Tens of thousands of people took part in the unseasonably warm marathon Getty Images 2/25 Sir Mo Farah sits on the ground after coming third in the Elite Men's race EPA 3/25 Katie Price ran the marathon dressed as a pair of lungs to show her support for the British Lung Foundation Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 4/25 A runner uses a shower to cool off during the race PA 5/25 A runner collapsed at the finish line after completing the grueling 26 mile race PA 6/25 Amazing image shows marathon runners race across Tower Bridge PA 7/25 Participants run across tower bridge as boat glides beneath them PA 8/25 Man douses himself with water during the hottest marathon on record REUTERS 9/25 The Men's Elite race kicked off at 10 am 10/25 Flying high: This man set off on the race dressed as a butterfly Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 11/25 Journalist Bryony Gordon and plus size model Jada Sezer run marathon in their underwear to promote body confidence Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 12/25 Australia's Madison de Rozario appears delighted to win the Women's Wheelchair race EPA 13/25 David Weir (left) in action during the Men's Wheelchair marathon as the sun hits Buckingham Palace PA 14/25 Sir Mo Farah finishes third in the Men's Marathon after a grueling race PA 15/25 Britain's David Weir, left, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the Men's wheelchair race AP 16/25 Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot (centre) celebrates winning the Women's London Marathon alongside second placed Kenya's Brigid Kosgei and third placed Ethiopia's Tadelech Bekele PA 17/25 Britain's Lily Partridge crosses the finish line in the Women's elite race REUTERS 18/25 Britain's Mo Farah and Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge in action during the men's elite race REUTERS 19/25 The Elite Men reach the halfway point, as seen from Tower Bridge PA 20/25 Wishful thinking? A fun runner dressed in costume despite warm weather warnings Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 21/25 Eight legs or two? A man with an octopus outfit during the race Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 22/25 Experts advised runners not to aim for their personal best as the temperature was expected to rise to 23C Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 23/25 Caged beast: this runner was on the move in a warm looking outfit Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 24/25 Participants were offered more water and ice than usual during the race due to the harsh conditions Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images 25/25 Vivian Cheruiyot wins the Elite Women's race, with Buckingham Palace looking glorious in the background Getty Images
Other ways to get a place in the race is to run for a charity - although there are only a certain number of places available and to secure a place you need to approach a charity to see if they have any spots going.
A third way you can gain entrance is via the ‘Good For Age’ category, which means you need to have run a marathon previously in a time frame that is good for your age bracket.
When is the 2019 London Marathon?
While the date for next year’s marathon hasn’t yet been released, it is often on a Sunday at the end of April. So either April 21 or 28 are looking likely for next year’s date.
For more information, check out virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/how-to-enter/
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There are two types of people in the world: those who run the London Marathon and those who watch it from the comfort of their own home with snacks in hand.
If you're more of a marathon observer (which we totally are), you may have found today's (April 22) coverage of the London Marathon less thrilling than usual.
Because the BBC is getting a right old ribbing on social media for its "very glitchy" and downright "awful" live coverage of the event, as viewers criticise the channel for its failing picture.
A BBC spokesperson told Digital Spy: "Following a technical issue we switched to a reserve line which resolved the problem.
"In over six hours of live coverage this was a small glitch and viewers still witnessed Mo Farah become the fastest marathon runner in British history and thousands of amazing people take to the streets of London to run for many worthy causes."
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It’s not the #LondonMarathon unless you’re watching coverage, that then freezes and cuts to a random aerial shot. #EveryYear — Rylan Clark-Neal (@Rylan) April 22, 2018
#LondonMarathon BBC transmission is terrible... what's with all the technical issues with sound and vision?? Better 20 years ago! — Kris Saunders (@KrisSaunders24) April 22, 2018
Just put #LondonMarathon on BBC One.
Is the picture breaking up for everybody? — D🐜e Banks (@Dante_Banks) April 22, 2018
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Absolutely clear day, race being run less than 30 miles away. Yet the signal is absolutely falling apart. 🙄 well done bbc 👌🏻👍🏻 #LondonMarathon — Shane (@SmushS) April 22, 2018
The @BBC needs to sort out their coverage of the London Marathon, it's absolutely dreadful, sort the camera work out, you can't watch it for more than 30 seconds without the camera's breaking up the picture.#londonmarathon #LondonMarathon2018 #BBC #bbcsport — modbet.co.uk (@modbet_UK) April 22, 2018
"The @BBC needs to sort out their coverage of the London Marathon, it's absolutely dreadful," one viewer ranted, while another asked if the channel was filming the event with their "iPhones".
