Bottle mix-up spoils Farah’s London dream
MO FARAH had to keep his cool and his bottle as he broke the British record by finishing third in a gruelling London Marathon. The 35-year-old struggled with the pace, the heat and mix-ups over water bottles, but he still beat Steve Jones’ 33-year-old mark with a time of two hours six minutes and 21 seconds. Farah, the multiple Olympic and world gold medallist who turned his back on the track last year to concentrate on road racing, briefly threatened a shock victory in his first serious attempt around the streets of London. But having appeared on the shoulders of Eliud Kipchoge and Tola Shura Kitata around the 16-mile mark, Farah soon dropped off the pace. Kenyan Kipchoge, who won the race in 2015 and 2016, eventually broke 21year-old Ethiopian Kitata with three miles to go to make it a hat-trick of wins. An exhausted Farah, who finished just over two minutes behind Kipchoge, said: ‘I was knackered at 30 kilometres and he [Kipchoge] just stepped up another gear. ‘I really enjoyed it — even though over the last 10km I was b ********* .’ It was the hottest London Marathon on record with the temperature reaching 23 degrees — although it was estimated to be even hotter on the tarmac. So Farah’s irritation at not being able to find the right water bottle at two drinks stations was understandable. At one point he was seen remonstrating with the motorcyclists travelling alongside the runners. ‘The drink station was confusing,’ he added. ‘The staff were helpful at the end but at the beginning they were trying to take a picture rather than giving me the drink. ‘I was saying to the people on motorbikes to tell the staff to be a bit helpful.’ Meanwhile, Vivian Cheruiyot timed her run to perfection to win the women’s race. Cheruiyot, 34, took advantage of failed attempts by last year’s winner Mary Keitany and runnerup Tirunesh Dibaba.