Britain's elite runners will be seeking to qualify for the Beijing Olympics at Sunday's London Marathon.

Only Paula Radcliffe, who pulled out with a toe injury, and Mara Yamauchi, who has chosen not to run, are virtually guaranteed selection.

Dan Robinson and Tomas Abyu are among the contenders for the three men's slots with Liz Yelling and Hayley Haining vying for the last female spot.

Martin Lel and Gete Wami are favourites to claim the London Marathon titles.

Yelling and Haining are targeting the Olympic qualifying mark of two hours 31 minutes over the London course.

But Yelling, who finished 15th at last month's World Cross Country Championships, insists she is gunning for more than just her place in the Olympic squad on Sunday.

"I want to race London to the best of my ability," said the 33-year-old, who used to train alongside Radcliffe at Loughborough University's track.

"I always race hard. I know I am in good shape and I'll just do the best I can do on the day." elling will, however, face tough competition from Scot Haining, who finished 12th in the 2005 London Marathon.

"I don't ever really think about it or put pressure on myself," said Haining, 36. "I run for relaxation and hopefully will not go back into the injury cycle."

However, both Yelling and Haining will be wary of the unpredictability of the marathon after Tracey Morris came from nowhere to win the Olympic trial in London four years ago at the age of 36.

Unfortunately the Welsh runner is injured this time around and so will not attempt to repeat her feat on Sunday.

Robinson is Britain's leading male marathon runner, finishing 23rd at the last Olympics and 11th at last summer's World Championships.

That top-20 finish in Osaka was good enough to see him qualify for Beijing under IAAF rules but he is still running for UK Athletics standard of 2:11.00; even though it is highly likely that he will be selected.

The main contenders in another strong men's field for London

"I believe they will honour that as an 'A' standard but I will still have to show my form," said Robinson, 32.

"I have had a good build up, quite low key with four or five races.

"Now it would be nice to translate my championship running into a big city marathon."

Abyu ran 2:10:37 in Dublin last October but his time does not count towards qualification because it was not an IAAF-certified course.

The 29-year-old, who was born in Ethiopia, has not had the best build-up to his qualifying attempt in London after he was struck down by bronchitis three weeks ago.

"I feel a little bit better and I might make it," he said.

British duo Shelly Woods and David Weir will be hoping to defend their wheelchair titles on Sunday.

But both Woods and Weir have already achieved the marathon qualifying times for the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The elite men's race is likely to be dominated by a strong Kenyan contingent with defending champion Lel the main protagonist.

Lel, along with his compatriots Felix Limo, the 2006 champion, Emmanuel Mutai, Sammy Wanjiru and Luke Kibet are also chasing Olympic qualification in the capital.

"It is great to be back here again in London as defending champion," said two-time winner Lel.

"I know I will have a tough time defending my title but I will do my best."

Lel has been training in Namibia because of the political upheaval and violence in Kenya after last December's disputed presidential election.

"We tried to carry on training but it wasn't good for us with the fighting that was going on," he explained.

"We had to escape to a tea plantation in Kenya and then in February we went to Namibia."

Also lining up in London is Italy's Olympic champion Stefano Baldini, Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib and American newcomer Ryan Hall.

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