Fancy that: The marathon is a massive fund-raiser for charity

Britain's Paralympic heroine Tanni Grey-Thompson won the women's wheelchair event for the fifth time - to the delight of the crowd on The Mall.

And Frenchman Denis Lemeunir was the first man across the line in the men's wheelchair discipline - despite being a late entrant in the event.

The main race was started by Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave in Blackheath at 09:30 BST.

Charity spectacular

London's elite race is considered one of the most prestigious marathons in the world.

But for many thousands of "fun runners" the event is all about raising valuable funds for charity and is more of a personal challenge than a race.

Much of the focus this year has been on one of the celebrity fund-raisers, Redgrave, who is running his first marathon.

Denis Lemeunir crosses the line first in the wheelchair event

The five-time rowing gold medallist led the way - wearing the number one vest that is normally reserved for the defending champion.

Half-way through his marathon, Redgrave - who was running with his wife Anne - admitted the encouragement from well-wishers was helping him towards the finish line.

"This is the biggest lap of honour I've done in my life," he quipped. "The reaction from the spectators has been unbelievable - it's a very special day."

Among the other celebrity runners were former world heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno and BBC Sport presenter Steve Rider.