London Marathon 2018: Mo Farah third as Eliud Kipchoge wins men's race

Farah, who won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000m in the past two Olympic Games, admitted his second full marathon had taken its toll in a race where there was a world record pace at the halfway point.

He told the BBC: "I am knackered. The guys went for it, they were on for world record pace, so it was do or die. I went with it and hung in as much as I could.

"It's so different to the track. It's incredible. It's different pain, different training but I've really enjoyed it. I gave it all, 110 per cent as I normally do.

"I've got a long way to go in the marathon. You get heavy legs. Mentally you've just got to be strong, take your drink and just pace yourself."

Discussing his hash of collecting his water bottle, Farah added: "The drinks station was quite confusing. I went to pick it up but it was the staff. They were helpful towards the end but at the beginning someone was trying to take a picture."

"It was do or die, I went as fast as I could.

"Definitely a tick to getting the new GB record. It's some payment for the fact that I haven't seen my kids in three months.

"It just shows that my training has obviously gone well and I want to thank everyone out there for their support."

The race was won by Eliud Kipchoge, a 33-year-old of Kenya and the winner in 2015 and 2016, while Ethiopia's Shura Kitata Tola finished second.

Meanwhile, Vivian Cheruiyot timed her run to perfection to win the women's London Marathon.

Cheruiyot, 34, took advantage of failed attempts by last year's winner Mary Keitany and runner-up Tirunesh Dibaba to break Paula Radcliffe's 15-year-old world record.

In stifling heat first Dibaba, of Ethiopia, and then Cheruiyot's fellow Kenyan Keitany dropped off the pace allowing the 2016 Olympic 5000m gold medalist to claim victory.

After nine miles Keitany and main rival Dibaba were 25 seconds ahead of Radcliffe's time. But Dibaba was soon reduced to a walking pace to leave Keitany with only her two male pacemakers for company.

Keitany, looking for a fourth win in London, also started to slow down as it became apparent Radcliffe's record of two hours 15 minutes 25 seconds would not be threatened.

Instead it was Cheruiyot who gave the pacemakers a shock by turning up on their heels, and she went on to win a tough race in 2:18.31.

Brigid Kosgei of Kenya was second with Tadelech Bekele of Ethiopia third.

Britain's David Weir won the men's wheelchair race at the London Marathon for the eighth time after a thrilling sprint finish.

The 38-year-old pipped Switzerland's Marcel Hug into second place, with Daniel Romanchuk of the USA third.

The leaders were well inside the course record time of one hour 28 minutes and 57 seconds during the first half of the race, in what were fine conditions for wheelchair racing.

But as the race wore on it became a tactical affair as the top three braced themselves for a late burst.

And just like last year, six-time Paralympic gold medalist Weir edged out two-time winner Hug to claim victory in a time of 1:31.15.

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