Kenyan Martin Lel won the men's London marathon on Sunday finishing in 2hrs 7min 41sec to beat Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri into second with another Kenyan Felix Limo third. The big surprise, though, was the abandonment of Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie, the third time he has raced the event.
He was third on his debut in 2002 and ninth last year, when he described it as the worst race of his life, but was still expected to challenge Kenyan Paul Tergat for the victory.
But around two thirds of the way through the race, Gebrselassie called it quits, leaving Tergat to battle it out with last year's winner Limo and Lel, among others.
With just one kilometre left to race, Lel, Limo and Goumri, racing in his first marathon, broke away form their three companions, including Tergat. Lel had been beaten in a sprint finish last year but left nothing to chance this time around and ensured he broke clear to snatch the win.
Lel was ecstatic at his victory declaring it the best race he had ever run.
"It was one of the most tactical races I have run," said the 29-year-old. "There were several champions running so I am proud. "I corrected the mistakes from last year and I had to be careful to preserve my energy, but it was an interesting race."
Gebrslassie said that he had no option but to quit the race. "I had a stitch here in my chest and could not continue. I'm not injured I just could not breathe," said the 34-year-old.
"It's not the heat, maybe something I ate, but I don't know." Zhou Chunxiu made history as the first Chinese runner to win the London marathon as she came home in 2hrs 20min 38sec on Sunday, finishing ahead of Ethiopia's Gete Wami and Romanian Constantina Tomescu-Dita. Asian Games champion Zhou put in a punishing spurt over the last three miles of the 26-mile race to blow away the rest of the field.
Zhou got off to a fast start in unseasonal heat in London but it was her finish that made the difference. She finished more than a minute ahead of Wami, the Berlin marathon winner last year.
Tomescu-Dita, runner-up behind Paula Radcliffe in 2005, passed a shattered Lornah Kiplagat - one of the pre-race favourites who was in contention until the latter stages - towards the finish.
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