Nairobi — Newly-crowned London Marathon champion Kelvin Kiptum says it is going to take a while before he comes to terms with his new status as the king of one of the most prestigious road races in the world.

Kiptum followed in the footsteps of the likes of marathon greats who have won the London Marathon in the past - such as Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele - when he clocked a course record of 2:01:25 to beat the tape on Sunday morning.

Former world half marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor finished second in 2:04:23 as Ethiopian Tamirat Tola clocked 2:04:59 in third.

Afterwards, the 23-year-old admitted that the manner in which he collected his win was beyond his wildest dreams, pre-race.

"Breaking the world record was not something I had in mind when I came here although I expected to perform well. However, I don't know really exactly how everything unfolded to this moment...honestly, I am still trying to take it all in," he said.

In only his second road race in his young athletics career, Kiptum also set the second fastest time in the men's marathon, breaking his own record he set on his marathon debut at the Valencia Marathon in December last year when he clocked 2:01:53 on his way to victory.

The 2021 Lens Half Marathon champion could not hide his joy at his latest accomplishment.

"I am so excited...it's not something that I take lightly...this is the second time I have set a course record," he said.

Kiptum added: "I was hoping to get a bottle of water to hydrate myself (at the 30km mark) but then I again I couldn't find any and thought to myself to try and get to the next 5km and get water to hydrate myself. I guess this was the push that I needed to get closer to victory."