Mo Farah is disappointed in London Marathon performance

Farah on his performance at London and the controversy with Gebrselassie

Madeleine Kelly April 28, 2019

Mo Farah finished fifth in Sunday’s London Marathon in 2:05:39, only seconds off his personal best time of 2:05:11, but three minutes behind winner Eliud Kipchoge. Farah went into the race hoping for a big result, but came away shy of his goals.

Farah fell off of the leaders at roughly halfway but maintained a strong position throughout the race. The runner told the London Marathon post-race, “I didn’t feel great at the start but I followed the pace maker. I felt good halfway and by 20 miles a gap was there. My aim was to reel them back once the pacemaker dropped out but wasn’t able to. I am disappointed as training went well.”

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When asked about the Haile Gebrselassie controversy, Farah said, “I didn’t think the fuss affected my run and I wasn’t distracted by the build up, it was all about London today and so I put my head down, did my best.”

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While a 2:05:39 wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, it’s still less than 30 seconds off his personal best and European record, and a fifth-place finish among one of the best marathon fields ever assembled is no joke. In Sunday’s race, only seven months after his world record run, Kipchoge ran the second-fastest time in history over the marathon distance and became the first man to win four London Marathon titles.

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