LONDON, April 23: 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 Gebresellasie, 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, Gebresellasie 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.

Meanwhile, China's Zhou Chunxiu mastered the heat to win the women’s event at London Marathon in 2hrs 21min 8sec, finishing ahead of Ethiopia's Gete Wami and Romanian Constantina Tomescu-Dita. —AFP