The BBC's James Helm: Wedding bells on the marathon route

Barbara Cole, 43, and Mick Gambril, 46, who were treated to a tickertape parade along the way by well-wishers.

They were married by a registrar at a Jacobean mansion two miles into the route in Greenwich and came out of the building to confetti - and a training shoe salute.

Marathon runners struggle through the pain barrier

The bride's knee-length dress and long veil and the groom's top hat and tails were designed in lightweight material by Jeff Banks, who was also at the ceremony.

The pair posed briefly for photographs before rejoining the race to run the remaining 24 miles holding hands. They finished well down the field because of the number of people stopping them to offer congratulations.

A marathon spokeswoman said unofficial figures showed the last runner had been recorded crossing the line with a time of eight hours, 56 minutes and 59 seconds. But one runner, who suffers from MS, was still believed to be on the course on Monday morning.

The spokeswoman said a record number of the 31,000 starters had completed the gruelling route.

A series of staggered starts saw the elite women begin at 0900BST, followed by the wheelchair athletes 15 minutes later and then at 0930BST the elite men and the mass start.

Former England soccer star John Barnes, ex-Olympic track athlete David Hemery and BBC TV sports presenter Helen Rollason, who is suffering from cancer, were among those who started the competitors on their way.

Among the celebrity runners was former European boxing champion Spencer Oliver, who had to give up his fight career last year after nearly being killed in a bout.

But, as ever, the day was about the huge number of amateurs and fun-runners, many of them raising money for good causes, including the Kosovar refugees.

"Womble" runner is among those raising money for charity

As well as being the world's richest race with a turnover of nearly £5m, the London Marathon raises more money for charity than any other sporting event, with this year's total expected to top £15m.

Among the attention-grabbing outfits were two 8ft pirates, five trees, a Superduck, a Lord Nelson, three of the four Teletubbies, Dipsy, La-la and Po, and even one man sitting on a toilet.

A six-man centipede ran for children's charity Barnardo's, and the oldest competitor was 89-year-old Abraham Weintraub.

But it was not just the runners who have been putting in months of preparation for the big day. The race organisers had a huge logistical headache to make sure everything went smoothly.

Along the course there were 500 portable toilets, 16,000m of barriers, 6,650 marshalls, 1,500 St John Ambulance volunteers, 68 ambulances, 41 first aid stations, 500 stretchers, 625,000 bottles of water and 25 gallons of blue paint marking the way.

Runners were also provided with 88lbs of petroleum jelly to protect against chafing and prevent the notorious "jogger's nipple".