It's almost time for the London Marathon. 50,000 runners will take on the iconic 26.2-mile route from Greenwich to The Mall.

The stage is set for a stunning mass participation race. For many runners, they have been training for this day for years, as it has been 889 days since the last London Marathon due to coronavirus restrictions.

In the elite race, London Marathon 2020 men's winner Shura Kitada returns to defend his title. Vincent Kipchumba and Sisay Lemma, who finished on the podium of the elite-only 2020 London Marathon, will also return to the race.

In the women's elite, reigning champion Bridget Kosgei will try to follow up her silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a third consecutive London Marathon victory. New York City Marathon champion Joycelyn Jepkosgei and Ethiopian runners Roza Delege and Birhane Dibaba will also line up at the start line.

The wheelchair race will bring some of the world's best wheelchair racers back to the streets of London. Defending champions Brent Lakatos and Nikita den Boer will both be at the start line. David Weir, the most decorated runner in the history of the London Marathon, will also take on his 22nd London Marathon in front of his home crowd.

If you are looking for runners in the mass participation race, you will be able to see them when the race kicks off at 9:30 AM BST. This year, the start time will be staggered from 9:30 to 11:00 BST to accommodate the distance from the roadside. The easiest way to figure out what your runners are up to is to track them.

The timeline for the day is as follows:

Elite Wheelchair Race: 8:50 a.m. BST / 3:50 a.m. ET / 12:50 a.m. PT

Elite Women's Start: 9:00 a.m. BST / 4:00 a.m. ET / 1:00 a.m. PT

Elite men's and mass participation start: 9:30 a.m. BST / 4:30 a.m. ET / 1:30 a.m. PT

The London Marathon will be broadcast live on the BBC for most of the day in the UK, but if you are not in the UK, there are still ways to watch friends and family take on the race There are ways (though you may need to set your alarm clock a little earlier than usual for Sunday).

The answer is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which allows you to watch the broadcast from home wherever you are. In other words, even if you are abroad, with the best VPN service, you can watch the game live as if you were in the lounge.

Right now, our favorite is ExpressVPN, thanks to its combination of great speed, great customer service, and excellent device support. They also offer a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can check them out without having to sign a long-term contract.

Using VPN is incredibly easy.

1. install the VPN of your choice. As we have mentioned, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. select the location you want to connect to with the VPN app. For example, if you are in the U.K. and want to see U.S. services, select U.S. from the list.

3. sit back and enjoy the race Access BBC Sport to stream the marathon.

If you are in the U.K., coverage of the London Marathon begins at 8:00 a.m. BST. From 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM (BST), you can watch all the competition on BBC Two. Thereafter, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (BST), the event will be broadcast on BBC One. From 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (BST), live coverage can be seen on BBC Red Button.

From 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. BST, highlights of the men's and women's elite and mass participation races will be broadcast on BBC Two.

All of these broadcasts are free.

You'll think they're all great. But if you're not in the UK, go to ....... But with the best VPN services like ExpressVPN, you can follow the live coverage of the London Marathon.

If you want to get up early and watch the London Marathon from the US, the easiest way is to watch live coverage on FloTrack.

To watch the race, you will need to become a member for $29.99 per month or $149.88 per year (calculated at $12.49 per month). You can cancel your subscription at any time, so you can sign up now, watch the races, and cancel at the end of the month (FloTrack is also streaming the Boston Marathon on October 11 and the Chicago Marathon on October 10, so the subscription is a bargain).