Courtesy: USATF

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In what many are calling the greatest marathon competition in history, American Khalid Khannouchi won Sunday's London Marathon in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 38 seconds, a time four seconds faster than the record he set as a citizen of Morocco at the 1999 Chicago Marathon.

Khannouchi won the race by a ten second margin over runner-up Paul Tergat of Kenya and Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, who finished third in 2:06:35. Six men ran faster that 2:08.

With his performance on Sunday, Khannouchi becomes the first American to set the men's world record in the marathon since Leonard "Buddy" Edelin ran 2:14:28 in Cheswick, England, on June 15, 1963.

"I was trying to do my own race," Khannouchi told Runner's World Online. "But we were running and it was a comfortable pace, so I changed my mind. I knew that if you want to win, you have to be there (with the lead pack). I was with Haile and Mr. Paul, the people who were an inspiration to me. And I thought, if I can beat these guys it will be something even more special."

A promising runner as a youngster, Khannouchi became frustrated with Morocco's track federation, which refused to grant him assistance with training expenses, Khannouchi traveled to the United States, where he found a job in Brooklyn washing dishes, while continuing his running career. He ran the fastest debut marathon in history at the 1997 Chicago Marathon (2:07:10), and became an American citizen on May 2, 2000. A hamstring injury at the 2000 London Marathon (3rd-2:08:36) kept him from competing at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Khannouchi's dream of wearing an American singlet at an international competition came true at last year's World Outdoor Championships in Edmonton, where he was forced to drop out of the marathon midway through the race due to injuries.

Khannouchi, who told reporters that the world record was not a consideration for him prior to Sunday's race, won $255,000 in prize money and bonuses for his performance.

In the women's race at London, Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe broke away at the seven mile mark and won her first career marathon in 2:18:56, just nine seconds off the world record. Radcliffe won the race by more than three and a half minutes over the rest of the field.