London Marathon 2015: When does it start, where can I watch it, what is the route and road closures

First athletes set off at 9am from Greenwich Park

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The London Marathon 2015 will take place on Sunday, 26 April. The Marathon is made up of five different types of athletes all competing on the same course.

The first to compete at 9am are the wheelchair athletes. Then five minutes later the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) athletes will set off from the same start line in Greenwich Park. Then at 9.20am the Elite women will begin their race, soon to be followed by the elite men at 10.10am. There are three starting points for the competitors: Green, Blue and Red.

All professional athletes will start from the Blue Start Point. The amateur runners will be running from all three start points depending on their qualification time.

To aid amateur competitors pace runners will be starting from the Red and Blue Starts. The pace makers will help runners time themselves appropriately. Their finish times will range from 2 hours 59 minutes all the way up to 5 hours 20 minutes.

On the day of the marathon major road closures will be in place across the whole of London however, shops, cafes, restaurants and transport links will, for the most part, remain open.

With major changes to the roads, London Underground, London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will all lay on extra services on race day. Due to excessive congestion race spectators are advised to avoid areas near Tower Bridge, the Cutty Sark and Greenwich town centre.