Patrick Makau breaks Haile Gebrselassie's marathon world record in Berli

                                Makau won the Berlin race in 2010 when Gebrselassie did not enter

Patrick Makau retained the Berlin men's marathon title in a world record time.

The Kenyan finished in a time of two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds to shave 21 seconds off the record set by Haile Gebrselassie on the same course.

The Ethiopian great failed to finish having experienced apparent stomach problems around the 27km mark.

"In the morning my body was not good but, after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record," said Makau.

GEBRSELASSIE'S RECORD AT BERLIN MARATHON

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• 2006 - First in 2:05.56 (fastest time of year)
• 2007 - First in 2:04.26 (world record)
• 2008 - First in 2:03.59 (world record)
• 2009 - First in 2:06.08
• 2010 - Did not compete

"I didn't have any problems in the race. Last year I had some problems with my soles inside my shoe, but today everything went very well."

Gebrselassie, the 38-year-old double Olympic champion at 10,000m, had also been looking to post a fast time and ease the pressure on him to qualify for the Games ahead of strong Ethiopian rivals.

But he found himself forced to step off the road midway through the race as Makau, sensing the Ethiopian great was struggling, upped the pace.

Gebrselassie set the previous world record time with a mark of 2:03.59 in the third of his four consecutive Berlin victories between 2006 and 2009.

But he halted for a full minute as his hopes of a quick time evaporated, then pulled out for good before the 40km mark.