Virgin London Marathon – London’s 2013 champions look to the future

Just 24 hours after tasting success on the streets of London, yesterday's Virgin London Marathon winners are looking to the future, confident that their best performances still lie ahead of them.  

If the winners return to London next year, they'll line up on the start line of the Virgin Money London Marathon, as the organisation announced a five-year extension to its sponsorship deal with Virgin Money. A new logo and title for the 2014 race, which will take place on Sunday 13 April 2014, were revealed today.

In the shorter term, yesterday's champion Kebede, who surged to the front in the final mile of the race to win in 2:06:04, is already looking ahead to the World Championships in Moscow in August. He started his post-race recovery with an easy run.

"I feel really tired after yesterday but I ran for an hour this morning," he said. "I'll run a little this week and try not to sit still for too long. The when I get back into training I'll follow my coach's advice on my sessions, eating and rest. I always do what my coach says!"

The future also looks bright for women's champion Priscah Jeptoo. Just five years ago the Olympic silver medallist was unknown, then former London Marathon winner Martin Lel saw her running in a local race in Kenya and introduced her to Claudio Berardelli, who has been coaching her ever since.

"Back then I was mostly running on the track, but Claudio saw my marathon potential and put me on a training programme," she said. And that programme paid off yesterday when she won the women's race in 2:20:15, more than a minute ahead of her Kenyan teammate Edna Kiplagat.

"I felt in really good shape before the race," said Jeptoo. "I think I was in even better shape than before last year's Olympics. You are up against such strong competition that you have to believe in your training. I felt strong and confident that I would win."

Kebede revealed that his confidence also soared in the closing stages of the race. "I knew at 40km that I would catch Mutai," said the Ethiopian. "I could see he was tired as I got closer and closer. There are many challenges when you're trying to run a fast time."

But even after such gutsy performances yesterday, both winners are certain that they can run even quicker. "I'd like to run under 2:20 on this course and I'm sure that with a strong field we'd be able to run hard and push each other," said Jeptoo.

Kebede has even more ambitious goals. "It's my dream to become Olympic champion, world champion and world-record holder," he said.

Source: Virgin London Marathon