London Marathon 2019

London Marathon 2019 :A record breaking year for applications will see more than 40,000 people run the 39th London Marathon this morning. The marathon has raised £1bn since the event started in 1981, according to race sponsors Virgin Money.

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Despite the predicted wind and rain, runners are targeting over 80 Guinness World Records - including Sir Mo Farah, aiming to break his own British record.Event director Hugh Brasher said: "No other mass participation event comes anywhere near this kind of fundraising.

Kipchoge, the Olympic champion who holds the course record, is looking for a fourth win in the race in five years. He has not been beaten over 26.2 miles since the 2013 Berlin Marathon.Eight-time winner David Weir is set to compete in the London Marathon wheelchair race for the 20th consecutive year.

Media captionEileen Noble is gearing up for her 20th marathon at the age of 84

Speaking about the £1bn raised for good causes, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "This is an astonishing achievement and my congratulations go to everyone involved in making the London Marathon such a world-renowned fundraising success - helping millions of people over the last 38 

Farah's final preparations for the race have coincided with an extraordinary row with Ethiopian long-distance great Haile Gebrselassie.

Farah alleged that he had thousands of pounds stolen while staying at a hotel owned by Gebrselassie, who responded by revealing that Farah was involved in a physical fight with another guest.

He also said that the two's relationship deteriorated after he barred Farah from bringing Jama Aden, a coach who was arrested as part of an anti-doping operation in Spain in 2016, to the hotel.

Farah denies the latter claim.

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Kipchoge says the prospect of a shock Farah victory helps push him to produce his best.

"Anybody can be beaten - Mo can beat me, others can beat me, but the best thing is that if you can accept the results, that's the only way to enjoy the sport," he said.

"I'm really surprised that Mo is learning so fast. It doesn't worry me, but it makes me get interested in him because that's what you want in sport; it's what helps you perform."

“It’s a really strong field, the conditions look good, you’ve got the best marathon runner of all time and I think Eliud’s really going to go for it,” said Andrew Jones, professor of applied physiology at Exeter University, who was part of the team that helped train Kipchoge for Nike’s sub-two-hour marathon attempt last year, a target he narrowly failed to beat by 26 seconds. “We’ll see a massive course record at worst and, you never know, we could see a world record.”

Kipchoge’s long-time coach, Patrick Sang, agreed that London could see something special today.

“Since he set the world record in Berlin last September, we’ve taken enough rest, prepared like normal and I think he’s in almost the same condition as when he came to London last year and also in Berlin. If all goes well, he should be able to better his (London) course record of 2:03:05 from 2016.”

Victory for Farah, however, would bring a triumphant end to a rollercoaster week following his bizarre row with the great runner Haile Gebrselassie, over events at a now infamous training camp outside Addis Ababa.

Farah’s decision to use a press conference to attack Gebrselassie is in contrast with the less flamboyant Kipchoge, who still does his toilet cleaning duties at training camps.

“You couldn’t imagine Eliud getting himself in the spat Mo has got himself into,” said Jones, former lead physiologist with UK Athletics, who has watched Farah progress since he was a junior athlete. “But some athletes it wouldn’t bother at all. Ronnie O’Sullivan in the snooker, he tends to like having a bit of a furore around him, [they] need something else to motivate them. I’m not saying Mo is like that but some people, it inspires them.”

Certainly Kipchoge does not believe Farah will be affected. “Mo can beat me, others can beat me,” he said before paying tribute to how quickly his rival was progressing. “I’m really surprised Mo is learning so fast.”

A Farah victory in an event that 41,000 runners will start would please his home crowd. “This event brings the community together,” said event director Hugh Brasher. “It is Britain’s biggest street party.”

Whether the capital has any chance of celebrating a Farah win, though, would largely come down to the pace, Jones suggested. “If for some reason the pace was really slow then that does give Mo more of a chance. If you end up with a few of them coming down the Mall, the closer they get to home, the nearer Mo is in contention, the better the chance he has.”