Woods to chase her third title

Shelly Woods will be chasing her third London Marathon title when she defends her crown against a world class field after taking a silver medal in the 2012 Paralympic Games marathon in September.

Woods was in commanding form last April when she won by nearly four minutes from Japan's Wakako Tsuchida. She went on to finish second at London 2012, missing out on Paralympic gold by just one second.

The talented 10-women line-up features many of the Paralympians Woods raced against in September, including five of the first six across the line.

They were led home by gold medallist Shirley Reilly of the USA, also the 2012 Boston Marathon champion, while the bronze went to Sandra Graf of Switzerland, the official world record holder who was London champion back in 2008.

Reilly made her London debut a year ago when she was fourth, while Graf was seventh 12 months' ago after four consecutive years on the podium.

Tsuchida will be absent this year because of illness, but USA's London course record holder Amanda McGrory will be looking to reclaim the title she won in 2009 and 2011 after finishing fourth at the Paralympics.

Canadian Diane Roy will also be targeting a medal again after she was third for the second time last year, as will Tatyana McFadden, the American who won three golds on the track at the Olympic Stadium last summer and claimed her third Chicago Marathon title in October.

Chicago silver medallist Susannah Scaroni completes the strong US quartet, while there is an intriguing debut from 19-year-old Madison de Rozario who became the youngest Australian ever to compete at a Paralympics when she was selected for Beijing in 2008, aged just 14.

A number of this year's wheelchair competitors will also be taking part in the Boston London Wheelchair Challenge, a new competition to find the best racer over two of the world's top marathons held less than a week apart. The 2013 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday 15 April.

Shelly Woods will appear at a press conference along with a number of the London Marathon's elite wheelchair racers at the Tower Hotel, London, on Friday 19 April. Click here for further details.

Elite Entries

Bib no      Name                          Country        PB

1              Shelly Woods               GBR               1:37:44

3              Sandra Graf                 SUI                1:35:44

4              Amanda McGrory          USA               1:36:39

5              Shirley Reilly                USA               1:37:36

6              Diane Roy                    CAN               1:40:09

7              Tatyana McFadden        USA               1:45:03

8              Christie Dawes             AUS               1:47:04

9              Susannah Scaroni         USA               1:50:06

10             Madison de Rozario      AUS               Debut

Click here to see all the 2013 Virgin London Marathon entry lists.