Merrien in great shape for the Marathon

< p class=" " data-reactid=".1uog3mxo1yk.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2.0">The 32-year-old must finish in less than two hours and 12 minutes l Sunday's London Marathon to be considered for a place in the UK team.

"I am in better shape than I've ever been," he told BBC Guernsey.

Merrien, who raced last world championships, had altitude training in Kenya before race.

"I will regularly in Kenya for the past two years.

"I find that it has helped me enormously, it is high altitude at 8,000ft, some challenging terrain and not lacking in inspiration in terms of the number of runners you see around the place, both Kenyan and from around the world,” Merrien said. p>

In preparation for the London Marathon, Merrien ran up to 120 miles a week in an effort to reach the "A" standard for Olympic qualification.

Great Britain is down to just two spots on their marathon team as they have already run under 2:12, and Merrien expects the top two British finishers on Sunday will be selected for the Olympics.

"If more than two Brits finish ahead of me under 2:12, so there's a better chance they'll be picked.

"If I'm the first or second Briton under 2:12 then that should pretty much guarantee me selection."