Champions mark London anniversary

Evans Rutto crosses the line at last year's London Marathon

The last five winners of the London Marathon men's race will compete in the event's 25th anniversary next year.

This year's winner Evans Rutto will be joined by Gezahegne Abera, Khalid Khannouchi, Abdelkader El Mouaziz and Antonio Pinto on 17 April.

"There could not be a better way to mark this historic day," said race director David Bedford.

"It's a special time for us and I am happy that these former champions have seen fit to join us."

Pinto has already won the race three times while El Mouaziz is searching for his third win.

Khannouchi set a world record in London of two hours five minutes and 38 seconds while Pinto co-holds the European record of 2:06:36 from 2000.

Meanwhile, organisers have announced a slight change to the marathon route which could see more records being broken.

The route around the Tower Hotel and the cobbles of the Tower of London have been replaced by a fast section along Highway and Tower Hill to make the course around 45 seconds faster.