Sifan Hassan only entered the London Marathon to see if she could finish it.

Yet despite stopping twice, once through injury and once as she tried to grab a drink, the 30-year-old track specialist went on to win it.

On the day the capital said farewell to British track hero Sir Mo Farah, who finished ninth in his final crack at the famous race, Hassan and Kelvin Kiptum took startling race victories on Sunday.

Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete Hassan's remarkable victory, in her first marathon, was followed by a staggering run from Kenyan Kiptum, who won the men's race in the second-fastest marathon time in history.

The 23-year-old Kenyan broke the course record in a remarkable two hours, one minute and 25 seconds.

But he was somehow upstaged by double Olympic track champ Hassan, an infectious character who had been fasting for Ramadan and who revealed she had cried on Sunday morning at the prospect of taking on the 26.2 mile course.

At one point it appeared she was about to pull out, having fallen way off the pace, clutching her hip, around the 15-mile mark.

But she somehow reeled in the leaders with three miles to go.

"The injury hurt when I sped up or when I was going downhill," she said. "I thought I was going to stop."

Hassan then survived making a mess of collecting a drink, narrowly missing a support motorbike, but recovered again and even offered rival Yalemzerf Yehualaw, last year's winner, a swig from her bottle.

"I didn't practise getting a drink. I'm born to have drama," she added. "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."

In a sprint finish, she pulled away from Alemu Megertu and Peres Jepchirchir down The Mall, coming home in 2:18.33.

"My goal was to finish the race," said Hassan. "I didn't have the goal to win or run a fast time. But I still won."

Kiptum tired towards the end of his race and missed out on Eliud Kipchoge's world record by 16 seconds.

But he sliced over a minute off Kipchoge's course record to beat compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor by almost three minutes, with Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola third.

Britain's greatest distance runner Farah completed his final London Marathon, finishing ninth in 2:10:28.

Swiss star Marcel Hug won a fifth men's wheelchair race in London, just six days after winning the Boston Marathon, while Australia's Madison de Rozario pipped four-time champ Manuela Schar in another sprint finish.