Kenyan athletes Felix Limo (left) and Martin Lel (right), together with U.S. athletes Meb Keflezighi (second left) and Khalid Khannouchi (second right) pose for the cameras at a photo call near Tower Bridge in central London yesterday. They will run in this year's London Marathon. Limo won the race last year. - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters):

KENYAN FELIX Limo said he will need eyes in the back of his head as he aims to win the London Marathon for the second year running on Sunday.

The 27th London race has attracted a high-quality field with the likes of Kenyan world record holder Paul Tergat and Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie lining up at the start, as well as Martin Lel who was narrowly beaten by Limo last year.

Moroccan-born American Khalid Khannouchi, who set a world best time winning here in 2002, is also a threat, while Olympic gold and silver medallists Stefano Baldini of Italy and Meb Keflezighi of the United States will feature strongly.

"You don't know how fit everybody is, but I reckon everybody is ready to fight and they are all coming here to win," Limo said yesterday. "It could go down to the last step."

"If you just watch Haile or Tergat or Martin you are risking to lose. You just have toprepare for whoever is going to challenge as the race develops."

Conditions are expected to be perfect for fast times on Sunday with the scorching temperatures of last weekend replaced by a comfortable 16-18 degrees Celcius.

Top runners

Limo said having so many top men in the field did not guarantee a fast winning time he did predict the winner would need to run about two hours six minutes.

"Some times when there are so many strong guys it's hard to run fast because we are all watching each other ... it's harder to gamble ... there are so many guys dangerous in the final kick."

Limo, like Lel, has not run a marathon since last year's London thriller because of a lower back injury that meant he could not defend his Chicago Marathon title last year.

However, thanks to treatment from a Ukrainian doctor, which involved having his back hit with a hammer, Limo arrives in London after four months of quality training.

"It's more in the mind now," he said. "I have trained on rough terrain so here should be no problem."

Khannouchi, 35, played down his chances of winning the race for the second time, saying he was still not 100 per cent fit after surgery on both feet.

"It's maybe 90 or 95 per cent," he said. "I'm still in rehab and I've had to be cautious with my training."