Merrien first Brit home in new PB

Monday 18th April 2011, 2:30PM BST.

LEE MERRIEN is edging ever closer to his Olympic dream after finishing leading Briton in yesterday’s Virgin London Marathon.

The 31-year-old picked his way through the field to finish 14th overall and take more than two minutes off his own island marathon record with a time of 2hr 14min. 27sec.

Merrien (pictured), who acknowledged well-wishers among the thousands who lined the finish in The Mall, finished strongly to guarantee his place in the Great Britain team for the World Championship marathon in Daegu, Korea, on 4 September.

He was not surprised with his performance, which also earned him the Jim Peters Trophy as top British runner.