13th April, 2014
African long distance runners dominated Sunday’s London Marathon, with Kenyan World record holder, Wilson Kipsang emerging tops after breasting the tape in a new record of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 29 seconds.
Kipsang was closely followed by his compatriot, Stanley Biwott, who finished in second place, while Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede was third, having edged out his compatriot, Ayele Abshero to the fourth place.
The winners were joined by 40,000 other runners, including Great Britain’s Mo Farah, who came in eighth place in a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
Kenyan’s Edna Kiplagat claimed the women’s crown, having finished the race in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 19 seconds and beating a compatriot, Florence Kiplagat to the second spot.
An Ethiopian, Tirunesh Dibaba was placed in third, while two other Ethiopians, Feyes Tadese and Aberu Kebede finished in the fourth and fifth places.
The race which started at Greenwich saw supporters line up virtually all the route up to the finish line at Buckingham Palace Gate.
Many of the amateur runners participated in the race mainly supported their various charities, such as heart foundations and breast cancer foundations.
Some physically challenged athletes also participated in the race in support of their charities.
The Western Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that many Nigerians with British nationality also participated in the race.
The London Marathon was established in 1981 as part of the World Marathon Majors.
The event holds annually during the spring and the 2015 edition has been fixed for April 26.