The actual races themselves showed the good part, with both the men’s and women’s races offering something different.

The only place really to begin is with Eluid Kipchoge.

The world record holder came into the race insisting he was under no pressure, despite attempts from people to hype it as a head-to-head duel between himself and Britain’s Sir Mo Farah. Quite literally so, as several pre-race photographs had the two men with their foreheads touching.

It was never likely to prove that way, with Kipchoge currently appearing in a class of his own over the distance and Farah still in the early stages of cracking the distance.

Indeed, the Briton was long gone when the merest element of doubt might have crept into one’s mind today as the closing stages of the race approached, with Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew still perched next to Kipchoge.

Suddenly, he was no longer there as Kipchoge slightly increased the pace once more and the elastic snapped. It felt similar to how the Kenyan has acted in the pre-race press conferences – calm and in control.

A record fourth London Marathon victory prompts questions about whether Kipchoge is the most dominant athlete in his event at the moment across sport. He would certainly have to be involved in any discussion, given he can bring to the table 11 wins in 12 marathons, an Olympic title and the world record.

If that is not enough the second-fastest time in history as well, which he ran today to break his own course record.

You almost feel sorry for Geremew, who became the second-fastest runner in history over the distance, as his accomplishment felt something of a footnote to Kipchoge’s excellence.

Others have also noted Kipchoge’s humility as another plus point in his column, which the Kenyan showed in his post race comments.

“It feels strange to be considered the most successful elite man in racing,” he said. “It’s really good and I’m very, very happy to have won four times.”

“It’s a surprise when everybody tells me I’ve made history, but I’m just pleased to be part of the £1 billion ($1.3 billion/€1.1 billion) for charity event.

“It was a very tactical race as everyone was there, but I know how to win this race and I was confident and didn’t feel it was in doubt at any point.

“I’m happy to make history and I’m happy to make it four wins.”

There is almost an equilibrium in that, while the men’s marathon always felt focused on the time Kipchoge would set as his victory was almost assured, the women’s seemed solely about who crossed the line in first place, with the time an irrelevant footnote.

This was perhaps highlighted by the pacemakers disappearing down the road as the leading athletes began at a conservative pace.

The women’s field had been billed as the deepest in history. This assertion normally needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, as organisers tend to trot it out on an annual basis. 

But there were a series of potential winners heading into today’s event.

With winners of the Berlin, Chicago, New York and defending London marathon champions all on the start-line, the depth was there for all to see.

The quality at present is perhaps part of the reason the women’s title has proved hard to retain, with Kenya’s Mary Keitany the last runner to manage the feat, having won the race in both 2011 and 2012.

The three-time winner proved well off the pace today, while Vivian Cheruiyot was the latest defending champion to be forced to hand over her crown. Having dragged back Keitany to win last year, there was no repeat as Brigid Kosgei moved away from her fellow Kenyan to clinch a maiden London Marathon win.

While Kipchoge is setting new standards for the men’s field and picking a women’s champion is unpredictable, organisers of marathons could feel they have the best of both worlds. They will certainly be buoyed by the emergence of American wheelchair racer Daniel Romanchuk.

As Paralympic greats David Weir and Marcel Hug edge slowly towards the end of their careers, the 20-year-old Romanchuk certainly looks ready to take over the mantle in the discipline following four major wins in the past year.

The recently retired Kurt Fearnley went as far as tweeting “the age of Romanchuk is upon us”.

However, it has not been the smoothest of weeks for London Marathon organisers, largely due to the unseemly spat between Sir Mo and Ethiopian distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie.

As much as Farah has claimed he has no regrets over bringing the dispute in the public domain over an alleged burglary when he was staying at Gebreselassie’s hotel in Ethiopia, you suspect he is privately regretting it.

While accounts have differed greatly this week over the validity of allegations made by Gebrselassie about Farah, it feels like a problem of the Briton’s own making. Having long been dogged by his association with controversial coach Alberto Salazar, Farah has again been forced to insist he has had no contact with another controversial coach, Jama Aden, since November 2016.

It is perhaps one of the reasons why there is a lukewarm reception to Farah in the UK.

While the Farah and Gebrselassie affair has been downright ugly, there was yet more bad news for Kenyan Athletics when it was announced world half marathon record holder Abraham Kiptum had been suspended two days prior to the race.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) charged Kiptum with an athlete biological passport violation, making him the fourth Kenyan to be provisionally suspended by the body. It is the same figure as it was when I wrote a blog last September questioning when the benefit of the doubt runs out for Kenyan athletics. 

However, since then the number of athletes from the country listed by the AIU as serving bans as swelled from 18 to 36.

It is hard to tell whether this is a good thing or not.

On the plus side, you could suggest the new anti-doping laboratory in Kenya is making a difference, as well as the AIU and International Association of Athletics Federations potentially conducting more intelligent testing in the country. Perhaps it is a combination of the two, coupled with less careful athletes.

The negative aspect is that it appears the message does not seem to be getting through to athletes from the country. While the number of cases involving Kenyan athletes continues to stream through, you have to wonder why this is not happening elsewhere, as surely the nation are not alone in having these problems.