Newcastle wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley has won the London Marathon after a perfectly timed sprint on the final stretch.
Fearnley proved too powerful for his rivals, taking the lead in the final sprint after sitting just behind race favourite David Weir over the past few kilometres.
He won in a time of 1:31:29, ahead of Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Ernst Van Dyk for South Africa.
It comes less than a week after Fearnley finished fifth in the Boston Marathon and was only a 100 metres away from the bombs that exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 170.
The events were still fresh in his mind, tweeting “Boston ur always in our thoughts.” immediately after the race.
Local athlete Christie Dawes also competed in the event, finishing fourth in the women’s wheelchair race.