18,336 in London Marathon : Japan’s Seko Wins in 2:10:02; Waitz Runs a 2:24:54

Toshihiko Seko of Japan proved he is on the comeback trail by winning the sixth London Marathon Sunday, while Norway’s Grete Waitz ran her fastest time ever to win the women’s race.

But it was the race itself that set the only world records as thousands of fun runners and disabled competitors pounded the same rain-soaked course as the stars.

The number of starters, 18,336, easily topped the previous high for a marathon, set over the same course two years ago. And the record number of finishers, 15,887, set last year at New York, was passed with hundreds more heading for the line.

Seko covered the 26.2 miles in 2 hours 10 minutes 2 seconds, while Waitz, the reigning world champion, finished in 2:24.54.

Runner-up to Seko was the 1982 winner, England’s Hugh Jones, with Scotland’s Alistair Hutton finishing third for the second year in a row. Fourth was American Pat Petersen, whose 2:12.56 was more than 1 1/2 minutes slower than his best. Mehmet Terzi of Turkey was fifth, only eight seconds outside his previous best of 2:12.54.

Mary O’Connor of New Zealand was runner-up in the women’s race to Waitz, whose time was well outside the world’s leading mark of 2:21.06, set on the same course last year by Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen. England’s Ann Ford was third with Sylvie Bornet of France fourth.

The last time Seko ran a marathon was at the 1984 L.A. Olympics, when he began as one of the favorites but, because of a bout with hepatitis, managed only 14th place. That remains his only defeat since 1979 and followed five victories in Japan and a win in the 1983 Boston Marathon.

For much of the race through central London, the 29-year-old Seko maintained a pace good enough to match the world mark of 2:07.12, set by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes. But he slowed considerably in the final quarter of the race.

Later he said through an interpreter: “I aimed at 2:07, but because of the strong headwinds in the last five or six miles along the river, I had to slow down.

“Because of a foot injury, I couldn’t train as much as I would have liked before this race. As I emerged from a tunnel at 23 miles, I did think I might tie up because I haven’t trained enough,” Seko said.

“Next time, though, I will definitely try to break the world record. In July, I want to race 10,000 meters at Oslo and my next marathon will be at Chicago on Nov. 2.”

Waitz, who beat her previous best by 35 seconds, said she was delayed by a fire engine during the race. “I had to stop to go round the fire engine and I lost about 10 to 15 seconds, which was not much. But it did annoy me at the time,” she said.

The 32-year-old Norwegian, who won the London marathon the last time she entered it in 1983, said her next race will be in the Bay-to- Breakers in San Francisco on May 18.

There she probably will run against American rival Joan Benoit Samuelson.