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Disappointed Farah Promises to Return With Hard Lessons Learned
Mo Farah admitted he was disappointed to clock 2:08:21 on his debut at the
2014 Virgin Money London Marathon today, but promised to return with
lessons learned from a tough day in the British capital.
"To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed in my time, but if you don't try
you'll never know," said the double world and Olympic Champion. "I'll be
back 100%, because I'm not finishing on a low. If I could come back and do
it again in two weeks' time, I would."
Farah, who was targeting Steve Jones's British record time of 2:07:13, went
off in the second group of elite men targeting 62:45 at halfway, although
he passed through that mark in 63:08.
He ran much of the race alone having lost touch with his pacemaker, and at
one point dropped a drinks bottle, but he didn't regret his decision.
"My aim was to run a certain time and it wasn't to run world record pace,
so the second group was good for me," he said.
"I am disappointed, but I'm an Olympic champion on the track and that's as
big as it gets. The marathon is a whole new challenge for me and I still
want to run a great marathon. I'll come back stronger.
"This is my city, it's where I grew up, and so it would have been wrong to
do any other marathon. I wanted to give something back to the crowd and to
those who supported me at London 2012.
"It was a great experience to run in London and I've learned what it's all
about. I'll do another marathon, but at this stage I don't know where and
when. I'll speak to my coach. I will be back, and I will be better, but
we've got to make the right choice."
While Farah will compete at the Glasgow Diamond League, otherwise his
summer plans are still to be confirmed.
Fellow Briton Chris Thompson, who was second to Farah in the 2010 European
Championships, will also return to the track after also making his marathon
debut today.
'Thommo' is aiming to run at the Commonwealth Games and European
Championships this summer, but this morning he finished his first race over
26.2 miles in an impressive 2:11:19, good enough for 11th place just behind
USA's Ryan Vail but ahead of world and Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich
and his own training partner Scott Overall.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought and I didn't have a phase where I thought I
couldn't do it," said Thompson. "I felt in control and the pace was nice.
It was quite windy, and for a long time it was just Ryan and me, so it was
quite hard.
"At half way there were four of us. We were targeting 64:45 and we thought
we were well inside that but we went through in 65:00. I think at the time
we thought it was a bit slow, but it was fine.
"As a group we then started to apply some pressure, but Scott dropped back
at around 14 miles, and then it was just Ryan and me. The wind on the long
straights really hit us, and the last six miles were tough."
Thompson said that at no point during the race did he worry about making
the distance, although he ran no further than 14 or 15 miles during his
marathon training.
"There's a lot of scope for improvement and I think finishing strength will
come in another marathon," he said. "Two or three more marathons and my
strength will build."
Amy Whitehead was the first British woman home in 2:34:20, all-but booking
her place on England's team for the Glasgow Commonwealth.
"The race was more about where I finished than the time," said the
35-year-old who finished 13th.
"Obviously, it would have been lovely to run a PB but I had to be
economical and my main priority was to secure my place on the team. I knew
I was in good shape, but I had a bit of a scare with my quads earlier in
the week and I was a little bit anxious."
Whitehead, who clocked 2:34:14 in last year's Virgin London Marathon,
concentrated on being first British woman.
"Today was all about the Commonwealth Games and I couldn't risk blowing
up," she said. "I felt strong, but I tried to run sensibly because I hope
to be doing it all again this summer."
Teammate Emma Stepto finished 14th in 2:36:05 after the pair ran the first
10 miles together.
Two other British athletes ran inside Commonwealth qualifying standards -
England's Steven Way (2:16:27) and John Gilbert (2:16:46), who finished
first and second respectively from the non-elite, British Championships
start, while Scott Overall was 17th in the men's elite race in 2:19:55,
well short of his best of 2:10:55.
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