Kenya's Abel Kirui lifts his arms in triumph as he crosses the finish line to win the men's marathon at the worlds on Saturday. (Michael Probst/Associated Press)

Kenya continued its men's marathon dominance on the world stage Saturday morning as Abel Kirui took gold over teammate Emmanuel Mutai at the world track and field championships in Berlin.

The 27-year-old pulled away from Mutai at the 37-kilometre mark of the 42.195-km race and finished in 2:06:54, a world championships record. Mutai finished in 2:07.48 to take silver.

Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia won bronze with a time of 2:08.35.

It's only Kirui's second marathon victory. His previous win was in the Vienna Marathon in 2008.

Reid Coolsaet of Hamilton was the top Canadian, finishing 25th. He set a personal best with a time of 2:16:53. Teammate Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., finished in 33rd place.

Andrew Smith of Toronto was 53rd and Giitah Macharia of Oakville, Ont., was 56th.

The Kenyan team had four men in the front pack from the start of the four-lap race through the streets of downtown Berlin. The race was begun at midday local time, and though it was cool to begin with, the weather warmed up considerably early on.

Twenty-one of the 91 starters failed to finish the race.

By the 27-km mark, a five-man group had split away, as Mutai, Kirui, teammate Robet Cheruiyot, Ethiopian Deriba Merga and Rwandan Dieudonne Disi set the pace. Three kilometres later, a dizzy Disi dropped out of the race.

Kebede and compatriot Deressa Chimsa were chasing the lead group, and Kebede would eventually reach third position as runners fell away from the front.

With a little over seven kilometres to go, it was only Mutai and Kirui battling for gold. That's when Kirui made his move and powered his way to the finish line at Brandenburg Gate.

Kirui's victory means that a Kenyan has taken men's marathon gold in the last three major world events. Luke Kibet won at the worlds in 2007 and compatriot Samuel Wanjiru claimed victory during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Kibet, Wanjiru and world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia were absent in Berlin.

With files from The Associated Press