Revised and updated, 14 April 2014
Right after his race, in the post-mortem press conference, Mo Farah said the following:
“I want to come back. If I could come back in two weeks time, I would. I have to make a sensible decision. I want to come back, but I do not know when it is going to be.”
Mo Farah ran his debut marathon today. The double gold medalist at the World Championships and Olympics had more pressure on him than anyone else in the race. It had gotten to the point that, without a win or a two hour marathon, something would be wrong with Mo Farah no matter what he did. In the end, Mo Farah ran a 2:08:21, the second best marathon ever by a male runner from the United Kingdom or Great Britain. He finished eighth overall.
Being Mo Farah, he noted: ” I could not have debuted in any other city. London is my city. This was my way of thanking my fans and all who support me. It was a bad day in the office. I had my hiccups, but I am not talking about that. That is not what a champion does…I don’t know when I will be back, but I will be back. I am a champion and I want to run a better marathon.”
Mo Farah ran a conservative race, perhaps too conservative for his nature and racing style. Hitting the halfway in 63:08, with the leaders at 62:30, Mo just could not catch them. Try as he did, Mo Farah could not get closer.
” I am taking a rest, and spending time with my family. Then, I will sit with my coach and we will decide where I race…I am racing at the Glasgow DL, and will then decide what I am doing after that. I will decide then on the Europeans and the Commonwealths.”
Mo Farah has nothing to be disappointed about. The marathon tough. It takes several races to master. Haile Gebrselassie took six marathons over seven years to get his groove on over 26.2 miles.
Right now, as Brendan Foster pleaded over BBC: “Mo, go back to the track until after Rio! Defend your Olympic titles.”
Enough said.
