Briton breaks record in Chicago
European record broken in first win at distance World’s best Kipchoge now firmly in his sights
If anyone assumed Mo Farah was only in this for a final few hefty pay cheques, they should think again. With a performance every bit as assured as anything he produced on the track over the past decade, he proved in Chicago yesterday that this marathon lark at the tail end of his career is for real – and he is up there with the best of them.
Ranked just eighth in the field ahead of this third marathon of his career, Farah produced the type of performance with which he has become synonymous over the past decade: start steady, assert himself late on, then surge clear as the finish line comes into sight. It could quite easily have been any of his track races from the past few years.
The result was a huge personal best and another European record to add to his collection with a time of 2hr 05min 11sec banishing any lingering doubts over whether the four-time Olympic champion could cut it on the roads. Whether 1500m or 26.2 miles, track or tarmac, Farah is the undisputed king of Europe.
As has become customary during his biggest successes, there were the obligatory moments of concern. In blustery, rain-drenched conditions, Farah fell off the lead pack at around 19 miles when he slipped back into ninth place as a hefty east African contingent showed the way at the front.
No sooner had he reasserted himself a couple of miles later than he became distracted at a drinks station and put his foot in a pothole, prompting a worrying look of anguish and a temporary limp that subsided when he realised the damage was not significant.
From there on, victory looked assured. Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew – the fastest man in the field, with a personal best of 2-04-00 – was the only person capable of sticking with Farah in the closing stages, but when he surged in the final few hundred metres, the contest was over.
Beating his previous personal best by more than a minute, Farah had time to punch the air repeatedly before crossing the line 13 seconds ahead of Geremew. Much had been anticipated of the duel between Farah and Galen Rupp, his former training partner under controversial coach Alberto Salazar, but the American was only fifth.
Looking ahead to tilts at the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Olympics, Farah insists he can run even faster.
“It’s my first victory in a marathon so it’s a great start,” he said. “This isn’t just a low-key marathon, it’s a major marathon. So to get a victory and a European record, I’m more than happy. Early on, I felt a bit sluggish. Not tired, but I couldn’t quite get moving. Then, towards the end, I felt a lot better. I was comfortable from mile 24 so I knew from that point that I was just testing the guys out,” he said.
“I got away easily, but I definitely had another couple of gears.
“I know I could have gone a lot faster, so we’ll see. Low 2-04 or high 2-03 is possible if I have a decent race and it’s smooth.”
It is the lure of medals that keeps Farah going, but he admits that, even with further improvement, there is likely to be one man preventing him from topping a global podium: Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan who shattered the world record last month.
“Eliud is a better athlete in the marathon,” Farah said. “He’s done more marathons than me and run better marathons than me. He beat me in London and has run 2-01 so I’m definitely a little bit behind him. It depends what happens over the next couple of years and if he slows down or runs the same times.
“But I’m not afraid to keep turning up in the same field as him.”
Instead, others will be afraid of facing Farah. The track king has converted into a road running machine. The fear factor is back.