Athletics has been rocked by accusations of widespread drug taking with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Independent Commission last year publishing allegations of state-supported doping in Russia.

Former London Marathon race director David Bedford played a key role in helping expose the blackmailing of Russia’s Liliya Shobukhova, the winner of the 2010 event and a three-time Chicago Marathon champion. 

In March 2014, Bedford advised Shobukhova’s agent to approach the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Ethics Commission about the £435,000 ($626,000/€550,000) she had given senior Russian officials to cover up doping violations. 

Brasher made reference to the case in a bid to highlight London Marathon organisers’ zero tolerance on the issue of doping.

"We are doing absolutely everything that we can to have clean racing," he said.

"We’ve been at the forefront since 2003.

"We’re going after Liliya Shobukhova in terms of we have taken a court case against her to recover the money that she fraudulently won from other athletes from her performances in London - she was caught by athlete biological passport testing.

"We’re absolutely determined to stamp it out and I believe absolutely so are all the athletes lined up here."

Among the athletes present here at today's conference was the winner of last year’s London Marathon Eliud Kipchoge along with fellow Kenyans Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto and Stanley Biwott, who came second, third and fourth respectively.

Kenya had been given until May 2 to make the necessary changes to its anti-drugs measures by WADA.

It has now been announced that a new bill which criminalises doping has been passed by Kenya's Parliament - easing fears that the athletics powerhouse will be banned from the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Kenya would have been declared non-compliant by WADA had they missed the May date, but now appear to be in a stronger position to meet the necessary criteria.

"Once the bill has been passed that will give the power to Kenyan autonomous agencies to work," said Kipsang, the London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist. 

"They will have a policy and a way of doing things.

"Then it comes to testing and all those kinds of things that need to be done.

"So the passing of the bill gives them a go-ahead."

WADA imposed its deadline after Kenya's Government missed an February 11 cut-off point to establish the appropriate legal framework for the new Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK).

As a result, the WADA Independent Compliance Review Committee ruled that Kenya were not in compliance with the WADA code as a Government bill had not yet been passed with policies and ADAK rules not in place.

Now, the new law could result in jail sentences of up to a year and fines for those who dope.

"Doping or cheating in sport is a crime," added Kipsang.

"But that doesn’t mean that all the athletes and the whole of the sport is ridden.

"We have a body doing the testing all the way through. 

"We’re being tested seven or eight times, in competition and out of competition, and we should trust the results."

A non-compliant ruling by WADA would not have automatically meant a Rio 2016 suspension for Kenya, but a recommendation could have been made to a governing body such as the IAAF.