This weekend sees the return of the London Marathon.

As last year’s event could only host elite competitors, Sunday’s event will mean the return of the mass participation run, where we will see members of the public who have dedicated months of their life preparing for the event finally run 26 miles around the capital. Of course, we may also see some people doing the run in funny and flamboyant outfits.

The beauty of the London Marathon is that we get to hear from some of the runners about the unique reasons why they have decided to participate. One particular competitor, Elliot Brock, donated bone-marrow to an eight-year old girl who had an aggressive form of bone cancer. Fast forward 13 years and Vicky Lawrence, made a full recovery from the condition and is now a medic student, will run the marathon with the man who saved her life, Elliot, raising money for the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity.

As people were forced to miss out on taking part last year with the pandemic, the organisers, London Marathon Events, organised a virtual Marathon which enabled people who were already training for the run to complete the 26-mile run at a more suitable location. Runners received a bib number from the organisers and were given a 24-hour period to complete the run. The popularity of the virtual run has caused the organisers to set up another for 2021, with a record-breaking 100,000 people set to take part on Sunday.

Around 40,000 people will take to the streets of London, which starts near Greenwich and finishes at Buckingham Palace, taking in some of the city’s most well known attractions throughout the course of the route.

As well as the main run, there will also be the Mini London Marathon where children run the 2.6 kilometre course which stretches from Temple Place to The Mall.

The News and Star have searched through its archives to find some images of people who have taken part in the London Marathon over the years, as well as others who have ran at events closer to home.

If you see yourself or someone you know in our pictures, and if you know of someone taking part on Sunday, let us know.