Kenya, Ethiopia triumph at London Marathon while the city says goodbye to Paula Radcliffe

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Charlotte Brewster reports from one of the capital’s most famous sporting events…

The weekend’s cooler weather certainly proved beneficial for Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsang who breezed to a 1-2 finish at the annual London Marathon this weekend.

Kipchoge beat his fellow countryman by just five seconds to take the victory. Compatriot Dennis Kimetto, world record holder, sailed into third.

Kipchoge and Kipsang proved a formidable force, battling each other right until the final lengths. Kipchoge nipped into first with an astonishing time of 2:04.42, with Kipsang just losing out with a time of 2:04.47.

Organisers hailed the race ‘clash of the champions’, though it could better be considered ‘clash of the Kenyans’; compatriots Kipchoge, Kipsang and Kimetto, as well as Emmanuel Mutai and Stanley Biwott, headlined the meet.

The London Marathon had promised to be a brilliant race – five all-time-top-10 runners competed – and it certainly delivered.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia took the gold with Tigist Tufa putting in a stellar time of 2:23.22, the first female Ethiopian champion since 2001.

She took the win at the last minute, overtaking Mary Keitany in the final lengths to win by 18 seconds.

Tufa’s fellow Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegaye took third place, in what proved to be a magnificent day for Ethiopian sport.

For British long-distance fans, it was an emotional day as Paula Radcliffe hung up her competitive running shoes for the final time.

There were emotional scenes as she crossed the finishing line, clutching the Union Jack to the cheers of the crowd.

At 41 years old, she was one of the oldest competitive runners taking part. Though she finished 20 minutes over her 2003 world-record time of 2:15.25, the crowd were unperturbed and cheered her on to her final run down the Mall.

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