Sifan Hassan was a surprise winner of the TCS London Marathon on her debut over the distance.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete's victory was all the more remarkable because she fell way off the pace, clutching her hip, around the 15-mile mark.
But Hassan, who is the 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion, reeled in the leaders with three miles to go.
The 30-year-old then survived making a mess of collecting a drink from a water station, narrowly missing a support motorbike, but recovered again and even offered rival Yalemzerf Yehualaw, last year’s winner, a swig from her bottle.
Being a track athlete gave Hassan a distinct advantage in a sprint finish and she pulled away from Alemu Megertu and Peres Jepchirchir down The Mall, coming home in two hours 18 minutes and 33 seconds.
"The injury hurt when I sped up or when I was going downhill," she said. "I thought I was going to stop.
"I didn’t practise getting a drink. I’m born to have drama. I didn’t know what to drink. I saw the other athletes go and I thought 'where are they going?’. So I grabbed a drink.
"I knew the bike was close but I didn’t really care. I just knew I was going to finish the marathon."
Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won the men’s race in the second fastest time in history.
The 23-year-old broke the course record in an incredible 2:01.27.
Kiptum tired towards the end and missed out on Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by just 18 seconds.
"I was not thinking about the record, " he said. "I am very happy with the result. "I loved it."
Mo Farah came home in his final marathon in ninth in 2:10.28.
Swiss star Marcel Hug won a fifth men’s wheelchair race, just six days after winning the Boston Marathon, with Ireland's Patrick Monahan an excellent 11th after finishing sixth in the US race.
The women's event was claimed by 2018 winner Madison de Rozario of Australia.
