London Marathon chiefs pay £150,000 to fly in runners

London Marathon organisers today revealed the disruption caused by this week's flight mayhem meant they had to spend £150,000 making alternative travel arrangements for top athletes.

A private charter was flying to London from Madrid today carrying 24 of the world's leading marathon runners, including Olympic men's champion Sammy Wanjaru.

The first elite runner to arrive was Britain's Mara Yamauchi, who took a £1,400 plane from France after a road journey earlier this week starting in Madrid. Race director David Bedford was optimistic that the entire elite field would arrive in good time for Sunday's race. He said: "In the early part of this week we felt incredibly challenged and now I feel proud that we have met that challenge and delivered the elite field."

The weather is expected to be good, with temperatures of 21C.