There are about 36,000 people walking around London today, almost all of them with a slight limp.  And that’s because it was the London Marathon yesterday – one of the most popular marathons in the world.

What makes London special is the astounding number of people in fancy dress, ranging from tigers and diving suits to rhinos and smurfs.  But the race is not just for fun runners with a penchant for dressing up,  the race also attracts thousands of serious club runners, one of which being our Pack Editor, Tobias Mews, who was  taking part in his sixth London marathon, and number 31 in total.  In the lead up to the race, he wrote  10 things no one told him about the London Marathon in his Telegraph column, about a race he first did nine years ago.

Having already run three sub-three hour London Marathons, including a personal best of two hours and 49 minutes, this time he was there to pace his fiancé Zayne who wanted to beat her Personal Record of three hours 33 minutes.  Luckily for him, he helped her beat her personal best by nine minutes, finishing in three hours and 24 minutes.

Running alongside our Editor, there were plenty of world class athletes taking part, thanks to it being one of the World Marathon Majors.

But despite a ‘Who’s Who’ gathering of ultra superstar athletes, all eyes were on one particular man yesterday – that of double Olympic champion Mo Farrah. This was his marathon debut, following the New York Half Marathon, where he finished a nail biting 2nd place. However, not all dreams were meant to come a reality and he sadly failed to achieve his hope of winning his debut London Marathon, as fellow Brit and former middle-distance runner Paula Radlcliffe had done just over a decade earlier.  However, 8th place with a time of two hours, eight minutes and 21 seconds would not be disappointing to most.

In the end, the race was won by Wilson Kipsang in two hours, four minutes and 29 seconds, setting a new course record in the process. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya won the women’s Elite race in two hours 20 minutes and 17 seconds.