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Last Updated: Monday, 11 April, 2005, 10:00 GMT 11:00 UK

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London legends: facts and figures

Paula Radcliffe celebrates her 2003 world record in London

Radcliffe set the marathon world record in London in 2003

The London Marathon is the showcase event for the world's best marathon runners and Britain's Paula Radcliffe will be determined to lead the way in 2005.

The 31-year-old is making her third appearance in the race, in which she holds a 100% record.

Radcliffe made the fastest debut by a woman over the distance in London in 2002 and set a new world record of two hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds a year later.

Fans will expect more of the same this time around, especially as the course has been made approximately 45 seconds quicker now the cobbled section around the Tower of London has been removed.

Kenyan world record holder Paul Tergat aims to claim the men's London crown for the first time.

The men's field is, however, packed with quality marathon runners including defending champion Evans Rutto, 2003 winner Gezahegne Abera and Olympic gold medallist Stefano Baldini.

Story of the London Marathon
There have been 47 winners in the men and women's races in total and more than 574,000 runners have completed the gruelling ordeal since it began.

The latest chapter in the world's greatest marathon promises to be just as exciting as anything that has gone before.

PAST LONDON MARATHON CHAMPIONS

Year	Men	Women
1981	Dick Beardsley (USA) & Inge Simonsen (Nor) 2:11:48	Joyce Smith (GB) 2:29:57*
1982	Hugh Jones (GB) 2:09:24	Joyce Smith (GB) 2:29:43*
1983	Mike Gratton (GB) 2:09:43	Grete Waitz (Nor) 2:25:29*
1984	Charlie Spedding (GB) 2:09:57	Ingrid Kristiansen (Nor) 2:24:26
1985	Steve Jones (GB) 2:08:16	Ingrid Kristiansen (Nor) 2:21:06*
1986	Toshihiko Seko (Jpn) 2:10:02	Grete Waitz (Nor) 2:24:54*
1987	Hiromi Taniguchi (Jpn) 2:09:50	Ingrid Kristiansen (Nor) 2:22:48*
1988	Henrik Jorgensen (Den) 2:10:20	Ingrid Kristiansen (Nor) 2:25:41*
1989	Douglas Wakiihuri (Ken) 2:09:03	Veronique Marot (GB) 2:26:56*
1990	Allister Hutton (Gbr) 2:10:10	Wanda Panfil (Pol) 2:26:31*
1991	Yakov Tolstikov (Eun) 2:09:17	Rosa Mota (Por) 2:26:14
1992	Antonio Pinto (Por) 2:10:02	Katrin Dorre (Ger) 2:29:39
1993	Eamonn Martin (GB) 2:10:50	Katrin Dorre (Ger) 2:27:09
1994	Dionicio Ceron (Mex) 2:08:53	Katrin Dorre (Ger) 2:32:34
1995	Dionicio Ceron (Mex) 2:08:30	Malgorzata Sobanska (Pol) 2:27:43
1996	Dionicio Ceron (Mex) 2:10:00	Liz McColgan (GB) 2:27:54
1997	Antonio Pinto (Por) 2:07:55	Joyce Chepchumba (Ken) 2:26:51
1998	Abel Anton (Spa) 2:07:57	Catherina McKiernan (Irl) 2:26:26
1999	Abdelkader El Mouaziz (Mor) 2:07:57	Joyce Chepchumba (Ken) 2:23:22
2000	Antonio Pinto (Por) 2:06:36	Tegla Loroupe (Ken) 2:24:33
2001	Abdelkader El Mouaziz (Mor) 2:07:11	Derartu Tulu (Eth) 2:23:57
2002	Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 2:05:38	Paula Radcliffe (GB) 2:18:56
2003	Gezahegne Abera (Eth) 2:07:56	Paula Radcliffe (GB) 2:15:25
2004	Evans Rutto (Ken) 2:06:18	Margaret Okayo (Ken) 2:22:35

*Times set by women in mixed races

LONDON MARATHON COURSE RECORDS

Race	Athlete	Time	Year
Men	Khalid Khannouchi (USA)	2:05:38	2002
Women	Paula Radcliffe (Gbr)	2:15:25	2003
Women (mix)	Ingrid Kristiansen (Nor)	2:21:06	1985

MARATHON WORLD RECORDS

Race	Athlete	Time	Place & year
Men	Paul Tergat (Ken)	2:04:55	Berlin 2003
Women	Paula Radcliffe (Gbr)	2:15:25	London 2003
Women (mix)	Paula Radcliffe (Gbr)	2:17:18	Chicago 2002