Mo Farah finishes eighth on full London Marathon debut
British Olympic champion Mo Farah finished eighth on his marathon debut as Kenyan world record holder Wilson Kipsang won his second title in London.
Farah, 31, failed to break Steve Jones’s 29-year-old British record of two hours, seven minutes 13 seconds and finished in 2:08:21.
Kipsang set a course record 2:04.27 with compatriot Stanley Biwott second.
Edna Kiplagat pipped fellow Kenyan Florence Kiplagat in the women’s race with debutant Tirunesh Dibaba third.
Farah elected to sit among the second pack of elite runners, but soon found himself 38 seconds behind the lead group, headed by Kipsang, at the halfway mark.
That gap increased to 49 seconds after 15 miles and then over a minute by the time they reached 19 miles.
The Briton, who won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the 2012 Olympics and last year’s World Championships, also made errors at two drinks stations when he tried to pick up fluids.
Despite missing out on the British record, Farah recorded the fourth fastest time by a Briton and set the fastest time by an Englishman.
Asked if he would do another marathon, Farah, who finished almost four minutes behind the winner, said: “Yeh, definitely, 100%. I’m not going to finish it like this. I will be back.
“I would have been disappointed to do my first marathon somewhere else. I gave it my all but I just wish I gave a little bit more to the crowd and all the supporters.
“It was pretty tough. I’m quite disappointed but you try things and if they don’t work, at least you gave it a go. It was really just the pace – I should have gone with the front group. The pacemakers I had were slightly ahead of me but you learn – life goes on.”
Former British world champion Paula Radcliffe believes Farah made the correct decision in choosing to make his marathon bow in London.
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