And I can win it
in great detail with my coach, but I love being able to run for my country and win medals for my country,” he says. “You don’t get that many chances to do that.
“So, maybe I need to take a step back and watch my competitors on TV and, if I’m still excited by the idea, i t ’s something to c o n s i d e r. B u t I’m a marathon runner for now, looking ahead to London. I might go to the Worlds in the 10k or the marathon, I just don’t know.”
Should he opt to make a U-turn, is there not a dual risk by going to the t r a c k o f d e r a i l i n g h i s p r o mi s i n g marathon ambitions or alternatively ending his track career on a dud note, akin to Usain Bolt at London 2017 in what proved to be one championship too far for the Jamaican?
“I don’t know,” says Farah. “That’s where my coach comes in. I could go for it if I’m in the shape of my life, or then again we could decide not to. It’s tricky because it’s competing for my country that drives me.”
The relationship with that coach, Gary Lough, the husband and former coach of world record-holder Paula Radcliffe, has been a hit. From day one, Farah says, the pair clicked.
And it is to Lough that he channels much of the credit for his impressive 2018 on the road, admitting it is easy to believe in someone who helped lay the ground for Radcliffe’s marathon world record, which has stood for 15 years.
Comparing his track forays at an Olympics or World Championships, where he would run the 10,000m and two 5,000m in the space of a week, Farah says his body reacted better to the rigours of last month’s marathon in the US.
“I felt really good after Chicago and it felt like there were a couple more gears still to go there,” he says. “Conditions weren’t great, so I know I could have run a lot faster. How much faster? I don’t really know.”
Would that improved pace in London come April be enough to reel in, arguably, the greatest marathon runner to have ever lived?
Farah, who aptly returned to The Mall this morning, said: “If we’re stride for stride coming down The Mall in April, I’ll feel I have the advantage. Eliud has the world record, but I’d have the crowd cheering me down the home straight — and that’s the big difference. Right now, I feel positive for the future. It feels like anything is possible.”