Haile Gebrselassie produced a classic performance to win the rain-hit Dubai Marathon, though well outside his own world best time.

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The Ethiopian missed out on a million dollar jackpot for breaking the world record, finishing in two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds.

Gebrselassie set the world's quickest time of 2:03:59 in Berlin last year after opting out of the Beijing Olympics but wet conditions ruined any hopes of a repeat.

He earned $250,000 (£168, 000) for his latest victory, leading an Ethiopian sweep of the podium with Deressa Chimsa (2:07:54) and Eshetu Wendimu Tsige (2:08:41) trailing him in Dubai.

"That's one of the best races I've run in such weather conditions," Gebrselassie said after retaining his Dubai title. "I was doing pretty well until the 30km mark.

"But then things became a little bit difficult because of the rain and that made the difference. But it was wonderful to clock this time in such conditions."

Ethiopia's Bezunesh Bekele Sertu won the women's race in a time of 2:24:01.