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Farah Focused on UK Record as He Faces His Toughest Test
Mo Farah has set his sights on breaking the long-standing British marathon
record when he makes his debut at the classic distance at the 2014 Virgin
Money London Marathon on Sunday, 13 April, a race he said today will be the
biggest test of his career.
The double world and Olympic track champion will race over 26.2 miles for
the first time this year against a field containing some of the best
marathon runners of all time, and admitted that he is going "in at the deep
end" at the start of his marathon career.
"My main target is definitely to break the British record then see what
comes with it," said Farah. "It's going to be an incredible race whatever
happens, because if you look at this field it is something special."
Farah ran to half way with the elite men 12 months ago as part of his
preparations for the ultimate challenge, and will set off with the lead
pack again this year hoping to finish inside 2 hours 7 minutes 13 seconds,
the time run by former London Marathon winner Steve Jones at the Chicago
Marathon back in 1985.
Among Farah's opponents on Sunday will be the world record holder Wilson
Kipsang of Kenya, Uganda's world and Olympic marathon champion Stephen
Kiprotich, the defending London champion Tsegaye Kebede, and the London
Marathon course record holder Emmanuel Mutai.
"I want to thank David Bedford [the London Marathon elite race coordinator]
for making this such an easy race for me," joked Farah. "There's no doubt
I'm going to start my marathon career in the deep end, but that's what
champions do.
"I know I need to respect the distance because it is going to be completely
different for me, going from track racing to the road. It is such a long
way.
"My training has gone reasonably well," he added. "There have been a few
hiccups, but that's all part of it. On the whole it's gone as well as I
wanted."
One of those 'hiccups' occurred at the New York City Half Marathon last
month when Farah tripped and fell early in the race and later collapsed
near the finish line after he'd placed second behind Geoffrey Mutai, the
Kenyan two-time New York Marathon winner who will be one of his opponents
here.
But Farah insisted today that he had suffered no ill effects and had
returned to training as normal at his base at the London Marathon High
Performance Centre in Iten, Kenya.
"I didn't miss much in training and I didn't change my training at all," he
said. "The fall was more of a worry for me than collapsing, to be honest.
When you fall, mentally and physically it is hard to recover.
"I had a few scratches on my hip and my back but it's all good, I'm fine.
I'm just glad it happened in New York rather than here."
Asked whether he risked tarnishing his glowing reputation by stepping into
the unknown, Farah had a defiant answer.
"Every race is a risk," he said. "Every race you put your reputation on the
line, but that's how you achieve a lot. You are never guaranteed to win. So
no, there's no risk to my reputation. It makes me more of a champion for
going in such a hard race.
"I don't have a clue what the other runners will be thinking of me, but
I'll give it 110 per cent. I'm just going to go out and run with the group.
I'll try to be patient and not waste too much energy."
Farah said that he had taken inspiration from Kenenisa Bekele's swift
marathon debut in Paris last Sunday when the Ethiopian distance legend
enjoyed an easy win in 2:05:03, the fastest marathon debut by a
31-year-old.
"It gives me great confidence," said Farah, who is the same age as Bekele,
the man he succeeded as world and Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion.
"I saw the end of the race and I want to congratulate him on running such a
great time in his first marathon. I think if Bekele can run that fast
there's no reason why I can't.
"But this race is completely different," he added. "In Paris he had no one
to worry about. London is by far the toughest race in the world, from the
world record holder down, so this will be very different.
"I know from my performances on the track I should be up there, but at the
same time, the distance is a challenge. I just want to see whether I'm any
good at it."
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