Mo Farah failed to break the British record in the London Marathon but insisted he would be back. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images
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Sunday, April 13, 2014
Mo Farah's first attempt at 26.2 miles ended in pain and disappointment as he finished the London marathon in eighth place and missed out on Steve Jones's British record by more than a minute.
It was not much of a silver lining that Farah's finishing time of 2hr 08min 21sec was inside Charlie Spedding's English record. He had been aiming to break Jones's record of 2hr 08min 13sec and create ripples among the world's elite marathoners.
Instead he finished a long way behind the winner Wilson Kipsang, the Kenyan world record holder, who sprinted away from his compatriot Stanley Biwott with a mile to go to win in a course record of 2hr 04min 27sec.
Biwott was second in a personal best of 2hr 04min 53sec, with the 2012 and 2013 champion, Tsegaye Kebede, third in 2hr 06min 29 sec.
Afterwards Farah admitted he wanted more. "It was pretty tough," he said. "I was quite disappointed today. You try things, they don't work but at least you give it a go. It was just the pace. It would have been nice to stick with the front group but you learn, life goes on."
However, when he was asked whether he would attempt 26.2 miles again, Farah had no doubts. "Definitely, 100%," he said. "I'm not going to finish it like this. I will be back. It is a matter of experience and learning. I gave it a go but I just wish I had given a little bit more to the crowd but the field was tough. It was strong. It was the strongest London marathon field ever but London is my city. I had to do it."
Few would dispute that Farah had entered the lion's den. Seven athletes in the field had run under 2hr 05min. What will frustrate him more is that he was never really in the race. While six elite athletes went with the pacemaker, Haile Gebrselassie, Farah held back.
The plan was him to go through halfway in 62min 15sec, about 30 seconds behind the leaders, but that soon went awry. After five kilometres he was 27 seconds back. After 10km the gap was 45 seconds. The hundreds of thousands who had lined the course cheered him on but he was already chasing records not victories.
Halfway was reached in 63min 07sec. He was 38 seconds down, in 12th place, and, crucially, on his own without anyone to pace him.
And while the crowds inspired him, even Jones's British record of 2hr 07min 13 sec proved out of reach.
The women's race was won by Kenya's Edna Kiplagat, who beat Florence Kiplagat by three seconds in a sprint finish to win in 2hr 20min 21sec. Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopia's great middle-distance runner, was third in 2hr 20min 35sec, having fallen back after stopping to pick up a dropped water bottle.