Sir Mo Farah brought the curtain down on his London Marathon career with a ninth-placed finish in the elite men's race on Sunday morning.
The 40-year-old, who confirmed a few days ago that the London race would be his final marathon, crossed the line with 02:10:28 on the clock after the 26.2 mile race.
Roared on by the home crowd lining the streets of the capital, Farah initially kept pace with the leading pack before falling off, as Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum wrote his name into the history books with a record time of 02:01:25 to take the title.
Kiptum's astonishing performance also saw him finish just 16 seconds behind the all-time marathon record held by Eliud Kipchoge, while Sifan Hassan overcame an early injury scare to win the women's race with 02:18:33 on the board.
Speaking to BBC One after crossing the finish line for the final time, Farah revealed that September's Great North Run will be his last-ever race, having admitted that now is the time to "call it a day".
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"London has been so great to me over the years and I wanted to be here to say thank you to the crowd and the support that was just amazing. Training went well, and I was confident and I thought I could do between 2:05 and 2:07 but you never know with the marathon," Farah said.
"I gave it my all but my body just wasn't responding and that's when you know when it's time to call it a day. Part of me was wanting to cry. The people were amazing, even in the rain to line the streets and that's what this is all about. It's what has kept me going for so long throughout my career.
"I will miss that feeling, I am emotional today. The Great North Run is going to be my last ever run and that will be my goodbye.
"My career has been amazing, my wife and kids have been with me throughout this journey and I want to give time to them now, as well as getting involved in grassroots sport and give back to this sport."
Champion Kiptum left second-placed Geoffrey Kamworor (02:04:23) and bronze medallist Tamirit Tola (02:04:59) in his wake on his way to a historic title, while Emile Cairess topped the charts for GB, finishing sixth with a time of 02:08:07.
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Meanwhile, Hassan's chances of victory appeared to have been dashed after she pulled up with a physical problem, but the 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion extraordinarily fought her way back the front.
A sprint finish propelled Hassan to the title in her debut marathon, as Ethiopia's Alemu Megertu (02:18:37) and Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir (02:18:38) placed second and third respectively.
"London has been my dream. And now here I am, I was doubting that I could even finish. This is just amazing. I will never forget this in my whole life," Hassan said.
"This year, the world championships is in my mind, I wasn't really thinking about the marathon. I thought I would have to cancel this run to focus on the worlds in Budapest. But I am so happy."
Finally, Switzerland's Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the third time running, breaking his own course record with a time of 01:23:44, while Australia's Madison de Rozario pipped Manuela Schar of Switzerland to the women's wheelchair crown by just one second.
Ben Knapton
