LONDON, April 14: Khalid Khannouchi ran away from the finest men’s marathon field ever assembled on Sunday to win the London marathon in world record time after Paula Radcliffe had come desperately close to breaking the women’s mark on her debut.

Khannouchi first dropped Ethiopia’s Olympic 10,000 metres champion Haile Gebrselassie, running his first serious marathon, then strode away from five times world cross country champion, Kenyan Paul Tergat, to win in two hours five minutes 38 seconds.

The Moroccan-born American set the previous world record of 2:05:42 in Chicago in 1999.

Whereas the men’s race proved a gripping three-way tussle before the final three kms, the women’s race proved a procession after Radcliffe moved away from the field after 14 kms of the 42.195 km event.

Leading results:

Women:

1. Paula Radcliffe (Britain) two minutes and 18:56 seconds; 2. Svetlana Zakharova (Russia) 2:22:31; 3. Lyudmila Petrova (Russia) 2:22:33; 4. Reiko Tosa (Japan) 2:22:46; 5. Susan Chepkemei (Kenya) 2:23:19; 6. Joyce Chepchumba (Kenya) 2:26:53; 7. Silvia Skvortsova (Russia) 2:27:07; 8. Zinaida Sememova (Russia) 2:27:45; 9. Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) 2:28:37; 10. Shitaye Gemechu (Ethiopia) 2:28:58.

Men:

1. Khalid Khannouchi (U.S.) two hours five minutes and 38 seconds (world record); 2. Paul Tergat (Kenya) 2:05:48; 3. Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 2:06:35; 4. Abdelkader El Mouaziz (Morocco) 2:06:52; 5. Ian Syster (South Africa) 2:07:06; 6. Stefano Baldini (Italy) 2:07:29; 7. Antonio Pinto (Portugal) 2:09:10; 8. Mark Steinle (Britain) 2:09:17; 9. Tesfaye Jifar (Ethiopia) 2:09:50; 10. Mohammed El Hattab (Morocco) 2:11:50.—Reuters