Riadha :Daniel Wanjiru wins his first London Marathon

Wanjiru wins his first London Marathon

Daniel Wanjiru won his first London Marathon title on Sunday after coming home in a time of 2hrs 5mins 48 seconds.

The Kenyan won the race just five seconds ahead of his fellow countryman, and overwhelming favourite for victory, Kenenisa Bekele.

Bekele holds the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres world records as well as eight Olympic and world titles.

He had been aiming for victory and breaking Dennis Kimetto’s record of 2:02:57 - set in Berlin in 2014 - having asked race organisers for pacemakers to bring him to halfway around 61:30 - on world-record pace.

But Wanjiru did brilliantly to hold off his illustrious compatriot to take home his first title in London and the biggest victory of his career.



Daniel Wanjiru has spoken about his men’s marathon win...

“In the beginning the race was very fast and we were inside world record pace. It was the pace I was preparing. for.

“As it was very fast anything can happen. We helped each other from the starting, talking and we tried to maintain that pace for half of the race. From there it was becoming tougher and tougher.

“The sun was coming and the day was beautiful but we don’t need too much sun! The race was good for me. It was very comfortable (to be in world record pace).”