It will perhaps be the finest hour in the history of world marathons at this year’s London Marathon on April 26.

It seems an East African will dominate as Kenya and Ethiopia offer athletes who have some of the fastest times in marathon history.

Kenya and Ethiopia have dominated the race for the past decade, with Kenyan men winning nine of the past 12 editions.

Dubbed “The Greatest Marathon Field Ever,” this year’s event will see World marathon record holder Dennis Kimetto (2:02:57) confronting defending champion Wilson Kipsang (2:03:23), while also featuring the greatest rivals in the 5,000m track race — world record holder Kenenisa Bekele (2:05:04) and Eliud Kipchoge (2:04:05). It’s less than two years since the two turned to road racing.

The last time the London Marathon course produced a world record was on April 14, 2002 when Moroccan-born American Khalid Khannouchi ran a new time of 2:05:38.

The next six world records were set at the Berlin run where Kimetto, 30, broke the world record with a time of 2:02:57, a record previously held by Kipsang. He became the first man to run the course in under two hours and three minutes.

Another Kenyan, Emmanuel Mutai, who is also headed for the London Marathon, came in second with a time of 2:03:13.

It was on the same Berlin course on September 29, 2013, where Kipsang, 32, set the new world record time of 2:03:23, 15 seconds faster than the previous record set by Patrick Makau in 2011.

Kimetto went to the top of the 2013/2014 World Marathon Major (WMM) series upon his victory in Berlin after previous wins in Tokyo in 2013 (2:06:50) and Chicago in 2013 (2:03:45). This changed when Kipsang won the New York City Marathon on November 2 to claim the 2013/2014 WMM series as Kimetto watched from the terraces.

While it will be the first time training mates Kimetto and Kipsang will be facing off in a full marathon, they have met twice in half marathons. Kimetto won at the 2011 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates before Kipsang turned the tables in the Czech Republic last year.

“It will be an interesting competition and I am looking forward to racing against Kimetto and to winning my third London Marathon title,” said Kipsang. The two athletes train together in Iten and Kapng’etuny.

Kipsang, who won last year’s London Marathon with a course record of 2:04:27, said the event could see a new world record set but said it will also depend on pacesetters and the weather on the day

Kimetto predicted a tough race between Kipchoge, Bekele, Mutai (2:03:13) and another host of Ethiopian athletes who include Ayele Abshero (2:04:23), who set a new course record of 2:04:23 at the 2012 Dubai Marathon and former Rotterdam Marathon champion Tilahun Regassa (2:05:27).