40 moments from 40 years of the London Marathon

Conditions were warm and the race was an unqualified success; it was won by American Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen from Norway, with the two holding hands as they ran through the finish line in 2:11:48.

Joyce Smith won the women’s race in 2:29:57, nine minutes ahead of her nearest rival, Gillian Drake.

Hugh Jones led from start to finish, reducing his personal best by 77 seconds to 2:09:24. This was the fastest time recorded in the UK, and ranked him ninth in the world.

Joyce Smith, unchallenged as Britain’s number one, again lowered her best and the UK record, to 2:29:43.

In its second year, London was already the biggest marathon in the world. Its 15,116 finishers – 198 of them inside 2:30:00 – put it ahead of the New York City Marathon.

Mike Gratton won the race in 2:09:43. He had been shoulder to shoulder with Gerry Helme until they reached the Tower of London. Helme finished second, in 2:10:12. Henrik Jorgensen, from Denmark, was third.

Grete Waitz, the world’s finest woman marathon runner, made her London debut and won easily in 2:25:29. Her record only stood as a world best for 24 hours; it was beaten by American Joan Benoit in Boston the following day.

This was the first year of the wheelchair marathon, with 19 competitors taking part and 17 reaching the finish in Westminster on a rainy April day.

Race founder Chris Brasher pictured at the start of the marathon.

The London Marathon, now sponsored by Mars, was the Olympic trial for British runners. Despite an early lead by Tanzanians Juma Ikangaa and Zakaria Barie, the UK's Charlie Spedding won the race, crossing the line in 2:09:57.

Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen won the women’s race and set a European record of 2:24:26.

Steve Jones found himself up against 1984 champion – and now Olympic bronze medallist – Charlie Spedding. By 20 miles there was just Jones and Spedding leading the race. At the Tower of London, Jones stopped briefly to rid himself of stomach cramps and, just as Spedding thought he had made the decisive break, Jones was back with him and then past him. His winning time – 2:08:16 – remained the course record until 1997.

In the women's race, the 1984 experiment of having women start 10 minutes ahead of the men was abandoned – and Ingrid Kristiansen proved that the London course was fast by recording a world best 2:21:06, a record that stood for 13 years.

Strong winds hit the London Marathon in 1986; Toshihiko Seko from Japan had set out with an impressive pace – clocking 1:03:30 at the halfway point – but he turned into the wind at mile 18. He crossed the line in 2:10:02.

One of the most fiercely contested of all London Marathons. It was Hiromi Taniguchi from Japan who broke clear of the pack in the final stages of the race to win in 2:09:50. In the women's race, Ingrid Kristiansen from Norway returned for her third London title, winning in 2:22:48.

Princess Diana started the runners and it was Henrik Jorgensen of Denmark who crossed the line in first place. A number of British runners were battling to be part of the British Olympic team, with Kevin Forster coming second to secure his place in the team for Seoul.

In the women's race, Ingrid Kristiansen notched up a fourth triumph, recording 2:25:41.

Now sponsored by ADT, the 1989 London Marathon had five of the top eight from the Seoul Olympics on the start line. The race was won by enigmatic Kenyan Douglas Wakiihuri, the world champion; he crossed the line in 2:09:03.

French-born UK runner Veronique Marot won the women's race, setting a UK record time of 2:25:56. This women's record stood until 2002, when Paula Radcliffe celebrated her debut with a sensational women-only world record of 2:18:56.

The 10th London Marathon saw British runner Allister Hutton win in a time of 2:10:10, despite the bad weather. This was Hutton's first marathon win, but he was in great shape, reportedly asking pacemaker Nick Rose to speed things up after only 10km.

In the women's race, Olympic champion Rosa Mota made an appearance, running the first half of the course for charity, but it was Poland’s Wanda Panfil, second in 1989, who won a scintillating women’s race. She cruised to victory in a personal best of 2:26:31.

In 1991, London hosted the IAAF/ADT World Marathon Cup, the first time an IAAF championship had been incorporated with an ‘existing mass-participation’ race. The relatively unknown Soviet Yakov Tolstikov stole the show by breaking away from a huge leading pack at 14 miles and crossing the line in 2:09:17.

Rosa Mota, the world and Olympic champion, won the women’s race in 2:26:14.

Conditions were almost perfect and former racing cyclist Antonio Pinto of Portugal won his first major title in his first London Marathon, finishing in 2:10:02.

In the women's race, reigning women’s champion Rosa Mota never made it to the finish line, after dropping out of the race near Docklands with a stomach problem that had plagued her in previous races. Germany’s Katrin Dorre won in a time of 2:29:39.

A Ford worker from Basildon, Eamonn Martin, was the first UK winner since 1984. In his debut at the distance, the Commonwealth 10,000m champion ran a beautifully judged race to outsprint Mexican Isidro Rico on Westminster Bridge. He crossed the line in 2:10:50.

In the women's race, Scotland’s Liz McColgan was matched against Lisa Ondieki of Australia and Katrin Dorre, the reigning champion from Germany. Despite the pre-race hype, it was Dorre who stole the show; she judged her run to perfection to win in 2:27:09.

Dionicio Ceron of Mexico produced what many people considered to be the finest run in the history of the event when he defied high winds – which had forced him to scrap an attempt on the world record – to win in 2:08:53.

In the women's race, runners struggled somewhat with the bad conditions. Katrin Dorre won for the third successive year, but her time of 2:32:34 was the slowest in London’s history.

Dionicio Ceron retained his title after a close battle on The Mall with Australian Steve Moneghetti. Ceron won in a time of 2:08:30 – London’s second-fastest time ever and only 14 seconds slower than Steve Jones’ course record.

The women's race was equally tense, with three runners together in the closing stages – Manuela Machado of Portugal, Malgorzata Sobanska of Poland and Ritva Lemettinen of Finland. Sobanska pulled away and gained a 10-second lead to win the race. Liz McColgan was the first Brit, in fifth place.

This was the year Flora came on board as the main sponsor for the event. It was also the hottest race in the history of the London Marathon so far, with highs of 21C at the finish. In the men's race, the times reflected the warmer conditions. After spending most of the race at the back of the pack, two-time winner Dionicio Ceron of Mexico won the race. He later said he did not feel at all confident during the race.

In the women's race, Norway’s Anita Hakenstad, Russia’s Firaya Sultanova and Estonia’s Jane Salumae broke away early, leaving the women’s elite pack far behind. Scotland's Liz McColgan was two minutes behind the leading pack until the 20-mile point, but she had closed the gap by mile 19. By the finish, she was over two minutes clear of the emerging Kenyan, Joyce Chepchumba, winning in 2:27:54.

Steve Jones’ 12-year-old course record was finally beaten, but it was a close race to the finish. Antonio Pinto, one of the world’s most consistent marathoners, came from way back over the final miles to beat the 1996 world half-marathon champion, Stefano Baldini, in a time of 2:07:55. Baldini finished in 2:07:57.

In the women's race, there was another tense chase down The Mall, this time between Kenya’s Joyce Chepchumba and Britain’s Liz McColgan. Chepchumba reached the line one second ahead of McColgan, finishing in 2:26:51.

1997 was also the first year of the Runner's World pace team!

In the men's race, world champion Abel Anton of Spain became the first Spanish runner to win the race; however, his waving at the crowds during his finish on The Mall cost him a $25,000 course- record bonus. Anton ran 2:07:57, missing Antonio Pinto’s 1997 record by two seconds.

In the women's race, Ireland’s Catherina McKiernan won in a time of 2:26:26. Liz McColgan was second, in 2:26:54, and Kenya's Joyce Chepchumba finished third, in 2:27:22.

Moroccan runner Abdelkader El Mouaziz took advantage of the pacemakers to open up an early gap in the men's race. He managed to retain his early lead for most of the race, finishing in a personal best time of 2:07:57.

In the women's race, Kenyan Joyce Chepchumba set a women-only course record and got a bonus for beating the world best recognised by the London Marathon organisers. She finished in 2:23:22.

In the pre-race press conference, the world record holder, Khalid Khannouchi, predicted that the London course was worth 2:06. He was proved correct, but it was Portugal’s Antonio Pinto who won, finishing in 2:06:36.

Kenya's Tegla Loroupe had been nursing a hip injury in the lead-up to the women’s race. She took charge at the Tower of London, drawing away with only Romania's Lidia Simon for company and leaving Joyce Chepchumba, who had been fighting a sore throat all week, struggling. Loroupe opened a gap from Simon in the final seconds of the race, winning in 2:24:33. Simon came second, in 2:24:46, and Chepchumba was third, with 2:24:57