London Marathon 2014: Farah misses out on marathon win bid

Mo Farah finished the marathon in eighth place just over a minute outside the British record

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya won the men's elite race in a record course time of 2:04:29

Edna Kiplagat of Kenya celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's Elite London Marathon

David Weir missed out on winning the elite men's wheelchair race

The London Marathon 2014 saw about 36,000 people take part, many running for charity

Double Olympic champion Mo Farah missed out on his bid to win the London Marathon 2014.

Farah, 31, who was running his first competitive marathon, finished in eighth place. He also missed out on breaking the British record.

Wilson Kipsang from Kenya won the event in a new course record. Stanley Biwott came second and Tsegaye Kebede third.

Kenya's Edna Kiplagat won the women's elite race with Florence Kiplagat in second and Tirunesh Dibaba third.

World record holder Kipsang crossed the line in a time of two hours, four minutes and 29 seconds.

Farah - the Olympic and world champion at both 5,000m and 10,000m - had been the bookies' most backed runner in the history of the event.

He had also aimed to beat Steve Jones' British record of 2:07:13 seconds which has stood since 1985 - but missed out by finishing in 2:08:21.

After the race he told the BBC: "I will be back. I gave it a go but I'm disappointed I didn't give a bit more than the crowd deserved.

Sharon, Karen, Debbie & Penny carried Colin the War Horse for The Royal British Legion

"It was the strongest field ever brought together by the London Marathon. It would have been wrong to do any other marathon. This is my hometown."

Steve Jones said Farah's first competitive marathon was "extremely good" and he was "honoured not to have my record broken".

After the race men's winner Kipsang, said: "I was feeling good and took advantage of controlling the pace and controlling the guys."

The other Britons who finished the men's elite race were Scott Overall, Craig Hopkins and debutants Chris Thompson and Ben Livesey.

In the women's race, British runners Amy Whitehead and Emma Stepto finished in 13th and 14th places with times of two hours, 34 minutes and 20 seconds and two hours 36 minutes and five seconds.

Britain's David "Weirwolf" Weir lost his bid to become the best wheelchair racer in the event's history.

He had been aiming to win his seventh title but was beaten into second place by Switzerland's Marcel Hug.

American Tatyana McFadden took the elite women's wheelchair race title, a month after winning a silver medal at the Winter Olympics for cross-country skiing.

Visually impaired athletes and their guides set off in the IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup race

Game of Thrones

Legions of fun-runners taking part in the event raised thousands of pounds for charity.

Celebrities including former Liverpool and England footballer Michael Owen, Game of Thrones actress Natalie Dormer, and Michelin-star chef Michel Roux Jr were just some of those who took up the challenge.

Nine MPs also tackled the course with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls running his third consecutive London Marathon.

Tony Phoenix-Morrison has been carrying a 42kg fridge

Sisters Katie, 23, and Polly Ryall, 21, from Newbury, Berkshire, fell short of their quest to become the fastest pair of female siblings to run a marathon.

The pair needed a combined time of five hours, nine minutes and 14 seconds to break the record, but knew before they finished they had not achieved it.

In the 34th year of the event there were also 15 runners who have competed every year.

Race starters Grainger and Watkins, who won the women's double sculls gold at the London 2012 Games, were two of 13 London Olympics gold medallists who took on the famous course from Blackheath to The Mall.

Olympic stars to start marathon