How to watch the London Marathon 2024 on a live stream including free options

Here's how to watch the London Marathon 2024 from anywhere, with live streams and free options.

The 2024 TCS London Marathon features a lineup of top-performing women, including Tigst Assefa, who aims to set a new women's-only best time, and Olympic Games Silver medallist Brigid Kosgei. Other contenders like Ruth Chepngetich and Peres Jepchirchir join the pursuit, fueled by the potential for pacemakers to guide them towards history.

In the men’s field, Tamirat Tola, Mosinet Geremew, and Kenenisa Bekele headline, alongside British talents like Emile Cairess and Callum Hawkins, promising a thrilling race of record-breaking potential and debut performances.

We're sure you'll be inspired to take up running after watching the London Marathon 2024, so check out T3's best running shoes and best women's running shoe roundups. We also have a guide for the best running headphones and the best running watches – essential running gear for training and racing.

Anyway, back to how to watch the London Marathon 2024. There are various free options; if you can't access them the usual way, you can use a VPN to bypass geo-restrictions.

How to watch the London Marathon 2024

THe TCS London Marathon app

One of the best (and cheapest) ways to follow the action on the London Marathon 2024 is to download the London Marathon app (Android /  Apple). The app allows you to track participants’ progress, keep up-to-date with the Elite Leaderboard, and find results. Get more information about the app here (links to the London Marathon website).

What time does it start?

The London Marathon 2024 takes place on Sunday, 21 April 2024, and the starting times are as follows:

The official cut-off time for the London Marathon 2024 is eight hours. A specially recruited group of 50 ‘Tailwalkers’ will move along the entire London Marathon route at an eight-hour pace, starting at the back of the final wave on all four starts: Blue, Green, Red and Yellow. If you’re unable to maintain this pace, a Tailwalker will drop back, move with you onto the pavement and support and guide you through to the Finish Line at whatever pace you’re able to maintain.

How to watch it in the UK

During the TCS London Marathon 2024, TV coverage will span BBC One from 08:30 to 14:00, with BBC Two taking over from 14:00 to 15:00. The Elite race schedule is as follows (UK time): the Elite Wheelchair field begins at 09:05, followed by the Elite Women at 09:25, and the Elite Men at 10:00.

For spectators eager to spot their loved ones along the route, two live streams will be available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport app. The Tower Bridge cam will run from 11:30 to 14:30, while the Finish Line cam will be active from 13:00 to 18:00, with on-demand viewing options for those who want to review the footage later.

How to watch it elsewhere

International viewers of the London Marathon 2024 have a variety of platforms to choose from to follow the event. In Australia, Canada, and the USA, coverage will be available on FloTrack, while viewers in Brazil can tune in via ESPN Brazil and Star+. Great Sports will broadcast the event in China, while viewers in China, Japan, MENA territories, and New Zealand can catch it on the Olympic Channel.

Israel's coverage will be provided by Charlton, and SuperSport will cover Pan Africa. Pan Asia and Pan Europe viewers can watch on Eurosport and Discovery+, while Pan Latin America will have coverage on ESPN and Star+. Finally, viewers in Spain can tune in via Teledeporte.

If you live anywhere else in the world or are out of the UK on holiday or business, you can still access the live stream by using the best VPN to get past those geo-restrictions.

A streaming VPN is a very handy thing, as it means you can hop on a server within the US, UK or anywhere else, and it will switch your IP address to make it appear as if you're browsing right from the comfort of your own home.

• VPN - standing for virtual private network - offers security and anonymity as you browse online, using set protocols to encrypt your data and make it unreadable to outsiders.
• As a part of that, you can also switch your IP address, which identifies your location.
• Most VPNs offer a list of locations where their servers are based to join. Connecting to them switches your IP to appear as if you're browsing from that country/city. In turn, you can then access content locked to that country.
• When it comes to finding a VPN, you should make sure you find the best one that's suitable for your chosen device, with VPN providers offering compatibility for a ton of devices, including VPN for Mac and even a range of fairly nifty free VPNs.
• Once you've made the decision for the most suitable VPN for your device and your means for using a VPN, sign-up and install it. 
• To live stream London Marathon, select a UK server from its list of available servers and connect. You'll then be able to hop over those geo-restrictions, with the likes of BBC iPlayer opening its online gates to you.
• We also want to ensure your money is well spent, so we would recommend going for a VPN that offers a risk-free trial. ExpressVPN is one of many providers that has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

• New to VPN? Find out how to use a VPN to unblock geo-restrictions