Mary Keitany runs 5th fastest time ever at London Marathon...

The big international event this weekend was of course the London Marathon. With more than 35,000 people taking part, the mens race was won by Wilson Kipsang of Kenya in a time of 2:04:44. The womens race was won by fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany in an impressive time of 2:18:36. Not only was this a new Kenyan national record but it was also the fifth fastest time ever by a woman in a Marathon.

Rank    Time    Name    Country    Race    Place    RaceDate
1    2:15:25    Radcliffe, Paula    GBR    London    1    4/13/03
2    2:17:18    Radcliffe, Paula    GBR    Chicago    1    10/13/02
3    2:17:42    Radcliffe, Paula    GBR    London    1    4/17/05
4    2:18:20    Shobukhova, Liliya    RUS    Chicago    1    10/9/11
5    2:18:36    Keitany, Mary    KEN    London    1    4/23/12
6    2:18:47    N'dereba, Catherine    KEN    Chicago    1    10/7/01
7    2:18:56    Radcliffe, Paula    GBR    London    1    4/14/02

Keitany's 5km Splits: 16:51, 16:45, 16:51, 16:47, 16:23, 16:16, 16:08, 15:45.

Keitany must now be one of the favourites to take gold in the Olympics this summer. And if you are looking at the photo above and wondering just how tall one of the fastest Marathon runners in the world is, the answer is 5ft 1" (1.55m).

The event of course had some of it's more whackier entrants. David Stone (42) from Exmouth, in Devon, dressed as Count Dracula and completed the run in two hours 42 minutes, smashing the previous record of three hours and two minutes as the fastest book character.

Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest marathon runner at 101, completed his race in seven hours and 49 minutes, some 35 minutes faster than the 8:25 which he ran in Toronto last October. The east Londoner has said this would be his last marathon so he can concentrate on shorter distances and faster times!

Other records broken on Sunday included the fastest marathon dressed as a jester in three hours one minute by Alexander Scherz, the fastest marathon dressed as a Roman Soldier in two hours and 57 minutes by David Tomlin and the fastest marathon dressed as a vegetable in two hours and 59 minutes by Edward Lumley.

There are some photos on the BBC Website HERE

The race also had it's tragic moment when a 30 year old woman collapsed and died near the finish of the 26.2-mile race. The event's organisers say that she fell as she approached Buckingham Palace. Medical attention was given at the scene, but she was declared dead later in the afternoon.

This has of course raised the subject in the mainstream press about how safe running a Marathon actually is? The reality is that fatalities are very rare. The 30-year-old woman who collapsed close to the finish line of the 2012 London Marathon is the 10th participant to die since the event began in 1981. Five of these were linked to heart conditions like blocked heart blood vessels or a structural congenital problem with the heart. Similarly, US research has looked at nearly 11 million runners who participated in marathons or half-marathons between 2000 and 2010. Over the decade, 59 of the runners had a cardiac arrest - where the heart stops working - and 42 of these people died. This means one death in every 259,000 runners. Most had underlying heart conditions or heart disease.

As with all types of strenuous physical activity, you are advised to seek a medical opinion before you start a training regime.