Farah blows away Windy City rivals
MO FARAH silenced his critics by winning his first big-city marathon with a record-breaking run in Chicago.
Britain’s most successful track athlete raised eyebrows when switching to the roads after 10 Olympic and world titles.
But the 35-year-old vindicated his decision by sprinting away from a highclass field to triumph in 2hr 5min 11sec.
Coached by Gary Lough, whose wife Paula Radcliffe in 2002 was the last Briton to win the Chicago Marathon, Farah’s time took 71 seconds off his British record and more than half a minute off the European best.
“It’s amazing to cross the line first,” he said.
“The conditions weren’t great and everyone was thinking about conditions rather than time. But towards the end we picked it up and overall I’m very happy with it.”
Farah ran a patient race in rain and wind, biding his time until the last mile when he kicked clear to win with 13 seconds to spare.
He remains a long way off the world record time set by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge when clocking 2:01.39 in Berlin last month.
But Farah is only three marathons into his road career and believes he can improve by a minute or two.