Sir Mo Farah achieved another significant career milestone as he won his first major marathon title in a wet and windswept Chicago yesterday.
Farah burst clear of Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew in the final half-mile to take victory in a new European record time of two hours, five minutes and 11 seconds, eclipsing Sondre Nordstad Moen’s previous mark by over a half a minute
It was another remarkable achievement from Farah, who admitted he had felt “sluggish” in the early stages as he clung on to a five-man breakaway group which included his former
training partner and last year’s winner Galen Rupp.
Rupp was the first to fall away but Geremew resisted Farah’s best attempts until the final half-mile, when the Briton’s decisive burst enabled him to cross the line 13 seconds clear, with Japan’s Suguru Osaku in third.
Farah told NBC Chicago: “It was great to run with Galen, who won last year, then to be able to come back and win it for myself.
“The conditions weren’t great and everyone was thinking about conditions rather than time, but towards the end we picked it up.
“I felt good towards the end of the race. At the beginning I felt a bit sluggish but overall I’m very happy with it.”
Farah had switched his focus towards claiming his first world marathon crown after winning a record-breaking fifth consecutive Great North Run title in South Shields last month.
But the relative ease of his ascent to the sport’s ultimate endurance feat may still have come as some surprise as he made light of difficult conditions to shake off his more experienced rivals.
Farah indicated after his win that he will go home to take a short break with his family before setting his next targets, which are likely to focus on next year’s World Athletics Championships in Qatar.
He added: “I’ll just take some time with my family and enjoy a break with my wife and kids – I haven’t seen them for a while because I’ve been away in a training camp for two months.”
Kenny Wilson finished the Cardiff Half Marathon – doubling as the Commonwealth half marathon championships – in 1 hour, six minutes and 58 seconds to take 25th place.
The Moray Road Runner, who required open heart surgery aged five, finished three places behind countryman Mike Crawley (1:06:36). The third member of the Scottish men’s team, John Newsom, finished 50th (1:10:38).Australia’s Jack Rayner claimed the commonwealth title in 1:01:00.
In the women’s race, Steph Twell was first of the Scottish team, finishing in seventh place in a time of 1:12:31. Annabel Simpson (1:18:07) and Fiona Brian (1:20:43) completed the line-up.
Juliet Chekwell of Uganda took the title in 1:09:44 with Celia Sullohern of Australia second in 1:11:03.
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