26 April 2009 -- Australian wheelchair athlete and Team Invacare member Kurt Fearnley has won the London Marathon for the first time.

Fearnley won in a course record time of 1 hour 28 minutes 56 seconds, just metres ahead of defending champion and local favourite David Weir of the United Kingdom.

After the disappointment of losing to Weir by less than a metre in 2007 and 2008, Fearnley was overjoyed with the win.

"I've been so close here before so to finish on the other side of the ledger is just awesome," Fearnley said.

"This was one of the strongest fields the sport has ever seen and it's a huge honour to come out on top.

"Everything I've done in the chair this year has been geared towards this race and it all clicked today."

The race was tightly fought with a pack of four clearing out by the half-way mark. Fearnley and Weir were joined by world-record holder Heinz Frei of Switzerland and last week's Boston Marathon winner and fellow Team Invacare teammate Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa.

Four became three for the last 10km with veteran Frei dropping out of contention as the younger trio powered ahead.

For the third year in a row the race came down to a final straight sprint but this time it was Fearnley who had the edge, ruining Weir's tilt at a record four straight wins, with Van Dyk a further two seconds behind.

"I knew Dave’s tactic was to try and hang around to the end and win in it a sprint, so to turn the tables and pip him on the line is that much sweeter.

"After what happened here the last two years there was no way I was going to let it finish that way again," Fearnley added.

The win completes Fearnley's record of winning at least once on every marathon course he has competed on, spread over five continents, from London, Sydney, New York and Los Angeles, to Beijing, Athens, Rome and Port Elizabeth.