Britain’s Mo Farah faces baptism of fire

NAIROBI: Britain’s double Olympic and world champion Mo Farah makes his eagerly-awaited marathon debut in London on Sunday, but has his work cut out with the jump-in distance and competition from top Kenyans and Ethiopians.

Kenya’s elite runners say they have little to fear from the newcomer to the distance, predicting a baptism of fire for Farah as he grapples with uncharted racing territory coupled with seasoned marathon veterans setting a punishing pace.

The 32-year-old 5,000 and 10,000m track star spent the better part of the winter training in Kenya’s high-altitude Rift Valley region in a bid to raise his game and compete against the world’s best. Leading the elite field is Kenyan Wilson Kipsang, who holds the world record after clocking a spectacular 2:03.23 in Berlin last year and has won London in 2012. Observers of the sport see Farah as being capable of running a time of around 2:06.

“It’s not going to be easy (for Farah) and he’s not likely to win,” Kipsang said.

Farah caused a scare last month when he collapsed after the