Champion: Tufa win's the 2015 Women's London Marathon
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In the women's race, Ethiopia's Tigist Tufa won with a time of 2:23:21, dispelling pre-race predictions that it would the Kenyan's who would dominate in London.
Her time fell just two minutes short of her own personal best of 2:21:52 that she set Shanghai in November last year. Paula Radcliffe's world record time of 2:15:25 set back in 2003 lives on for another year at least.
Lst hurrah: Radcliffe runs her final competitive London MarathonAnd Radcliffe, competing in here final ever competitive marathon, finished with a time of 2:36:55.
The 41-year-old offered a 'thank you' as she waved to crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace, before embracing her family at the finish line.
"I didn't care about the time all the way round and I just wanted to thank as many people as possible," Radcliffe told the BBC.
"I went off way too fast and then it got more and more emotional. It was just amazing the whole way round."
Kipsang, who won last year's marathon, was neck and neck with Kipchoge before the 30-year-old cracked it up another gear at the pair closed in on the Mall.
Kipchoge's winning time of 2:04:42 came close to breaking the course record, set by Kipsang the year previous.
By the time the elite runners had reached he half-way stage, running over Tower Bridge, hopes that a new course record could be set started to gather momentum, with Dennis Kimetto, Geoffrey Mutai, Emmanuel Mutai and Wilson Kipsang leading the charge.
Kipsang, of course, had the time to beat. The 33-year-old Kenyan set the men's course record in last year's marathon, finishing with a time of 2:04.29 in 2014.
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Starting line: The elite men set offWith nine kilometres remaining, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge lead the pack, ahead of Kipsang, with the world record holder Dennis Kimetto lurking closely behind.
The race was set for an enthralling finish, as three of the six fastest marathon runners in history closed in on the Mall.
And it would be Kipsang and Kipchoge, a former world champion, who would be neck and neck to the finish line, as they left the rest of the pack in their wake. An increase in pace at the death would secure victory for Kipchoge.
Speaking after his triumph, Kipchoge said: "It was a tough race. My training paid off and it went to plan. The crowd were wonderful and lifted me for my sprint finish."
