Farah can enjoy his knight off
REPORTS WHEN Sir Mo Farah finished eighth as he completed his only marathon in 2014, he vowed: “I will do another one, don’t know where or when. I don’t want to finish on a low. It could be in six months’ time or in a few years’ time.”
The time is almost time is almost now.
On Sunday morning in London, the Great One of British track running once more tackles the beast of 26.2 miles, and he will find himself in a strange position – running the marathon is his main priority.
It will be nothing to do with the distance ahead; it will be nothing to do with the surface underfoot; and it will be nothing to do with the early time of day.
For the first time in almost a decade, Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah, a winner of 17 major track titles, will not be favourite.
Her Majesty The Queen is the official starter, on the big screens via a special podium in Windsor Castle, and if the athlete she made a Knight of the Realm at Buckingham Palace last November is to win, then it really will be one of the greatest stories in the history of the Virgin Money London Marathon.
“It is a great feeling not having as much pressure as I did on the track,” said Farah yesterday, not long after landing in London from Ethiopia, where he has been training for three months.
“I am here to do a job. I will learn as much as I can. In track, I have won most medals. You here, the have to find a new challenge and it has definitely given me good confidence.
“I am more relaxed, more easy, more joking around. You have to enjoy what you do and if you don’t enjoy it and you’re not happy, then what is the point? I am enjoying it more than ever.”
Farah has run only once this year since retiring from the track last summer, in Greenwich last month when he won The Big Half Marathon in 61:40.
His London time of 2hrs 8mins 21secs from four years ago is No2 on the national rankings, over a minute adrift of Steve Jones’ mark of 2:07.13 set in Chicago in 1985.
Making up just over 60 seconds when you do not have the concerns of a track career is feasible, but making up three minutes on your rivals, by all logic, is something else when you are so new to an event. Farah, 35, will find himself only ❑ HUGH BRASHER, race director of the Virgin Money London Marathon, has warned runners to heed notice of the weather as they tackle conditions which could reach the low 20 degrees on Sunday.
After the trauma of watching Scotland’s Callum Hawkins collapse in the Commonwealth Games marathon on the Gold Coast last Sunday, Brasher said: “If it is going to be a bit hotter, go a bit slower. If it warms up and you are not used to the heat, listen to your body.”
If temperatures rise, there will be extra water along a course which will be manned by 160 doctors and 4,500 volunteers.
A field of about 40,000 is expected to start and runners will be sent emails from tomorrow advising on how to deal with conditions. the 13th-fastest man in a field in which, on times, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele is the quickest on 2:03.03. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the 2015 and 2016 champion, on 2:03.05, is not far behind while another Kenyan, Daniel Wanijru, whose best is 2:05.21, returns as the defending champion.
But then again, turn the clock back to 2002 and Paula Radcliffe’s London debut. She was not favourite and went on to destroy the field before breaking the world record six months later in Chicago, again lowering it to 2:15.25 in London in 2003.
The link there is strong. Radcliffe’s husband and coach Gary Lough is now the man guiding Farah, and the respect has already reached an impressive level.
“Gary is a genius, I believe in him. We have been working hard,” said Farah, who won the London mini marathon as a youngster three times.
And at least a familiar face will set him on his way. “When I started my career, I never thought I would be called a ‘Sir’,” said Farah. “It has been hard work. It is a great honour.”