THEYRE OFF! Thousands of runners have headed out at the start of a 26-mile loop through the city of York and the surrounding countryside.
Thousands more people are lining the streets and roads to cheer them on as they run a huge loop from the University of York back to the University of York.
Among the runners are 37 who have run in every one of the 10 Yorkshire Marathons.
Between them the thousands in the Yorkshire Marathon and the associated 10 mile run will raise ten of thousands of pounds for charity as well as those running it as an athletic event.
Watch the start of the race here
The starting flag was waved at 9.30am by Harvey Gration, son of the late BBC presenter and York celebrity Harry Gration.
"Enjoy it, enjoy the event," he told the assembled runners.
He then handed over the huge Yorkshire flag to the York Civic Party and joined the long, long line of runners heading into York.
Harvey is running the marathon in memory of his father, a strong supporter of the event.
First on the road were four wheelchair athletes.
Watch a video of their start here.
The assembly area opened at 7am, two and a half hours before the start and York Pullman is running a shuttle service from the event's car park at Elvington Airfield.
Once the entrants were well on their way, the Yorkshire 10 mile race began from the same starting place using part of the course.
Not everyone on the full 26-mile race completed the entire route. Some will be running as part of a team running in the Yorkshire Marathon Relay.
Along the route were musicians encouraging the runners with a Rock Band outside the Minster, the East Riding Pipe Bank close to the Outer Ring Road on Stockton Lane, City of York Pipe Band at the northern end of Stockton-on-the-Forest, Mambo Jambo at the halfway point, Lucy’s Pop Choir at Stamford Bridge and the Humber Drum Circle at 23 miles to give a final inspiration for the last three miles.
Harry Gration fired the first ever starting gun and encouraged many to take part.
Organised by Jane Tomlinson’s RunForAll the annual October event draws runners from across the region and further afield, and because of its generally flat profile, it has become a magnet for runners wanting to post personal bests.
We wish everyone, whatever their ability, who is taking part in all three events, the best of luck and good running.
For those of you travelling around York by car and not involved in the event, here's a list of all the road closures enabling the race to go ahead safely.
We will be updating this story as the event progresses.
- If you are taking photos at today's events, let us have your pictures by emailing them to newsdesk@thepress.co.uk or to our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thepressyork. We'll publish the best.
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