Written by BBC 2012-04-22 13:51:00 Read 806 Times

Wilson Kipsang the 2012 london Marathon winner. Photo: ACTION IMAGES

Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany secured a Kenyan double by winning the men's and women's races at the London Marathon.

Kipsang led for the final seven miles and just missed out on the course record.

Keitany won for the second successive year with an unofficial time of 2:18.36.

Claire Hallissey was the first Briton to finish and her time should be enough to earn Olympic selection.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Hallissey told BBC Radio 5 live. "I knew we were on target.

"It wasn't until I got to the clock with 800m to go that I knew for certain

"I was running as fast as I could, so it was not worth the effort working out what time to go for."

Keitany set a relentless pace to pull away from compatriot Edna Kiplagat in the final three miles to win by more than a minute.

She is thought to have set a new personal best and a new Kenyan record on the way to defending her crown.

Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi have already qualified for this summer but Hallissey's time was quicker than Jo Pavey, who did not run but had been ranked third.

Approximately 37,500 runners took part in the event.

Men's result:

Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:04:44

Martin Lel KEN 2:06:51

Tsegaye Kebede ETH 2:06:52

Adil Annani MAR 2:07:43

Jaouad Gharib MAR 2:07:44

Abel Kirui KEN 2:07:56

Emmanuel Mutai KEN 2:08:01

Marilson Gomes dos Santo BRA 2:08:03

Women’s result:

Mary Keitany KEN 2:18.37

Edna Kiplagat KEN 2:19:50

Priscah Jeptoo KEN 2:20:14

Florence Kiplagat KEN 2:20.57

Lucy Kabuu KEN 2:23:12

Aberu Kebede ETH 2:24:04

Irina Mikitenko GER  2:24:53

Jessica Augusto POR 2:24:59 

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