London Marathon – News – Farah Says Sunday’s London Marathon Will Be His Last

FARAH SAYS SUNDAY’S LONDON MARATHON WILL BE HIS LAST
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2023 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.

(20-Apr) — Four-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah said today that Sunday’s TCS London Marathon will be his last race at the distance.  Farah, who turned 40 last month and had to pull out of London when the race was held off-cycle last October due to the pandemic, hasn’t completed a marathon in nearly four years.  

“Sunday is probably going to be my last marathon,” Farah somberly told reporters today at a press conference in London.  “Just being realistic.”  He continued: “It won’t be my last race, but in terms of marathon the London Marathon will be my last.”

Farah spoke about how difficult it has been for him to maintain his overall health and fitness over the last several years and how he has had to modify his training to accommodate his aging body.  He had high hopes for last October’s London race, but ended up scratching out with a hip injury only a week and a half before the race.  In his last start at London where he was entered as a bonafide competitor in 2019 –he acted as a pacemaker in 2020– Farah finished fifth overall in 2:05:39, the fastest time out of his three London finishes.  He’s relatively optimistic about Sunday, he said.

“Last year I was definitely gutted,” said Farah about missing last October’s race.  “I was in decent shape.”  He added: “This year I’m back and I’m healthy.  That’s a key thing for me.  I’ve been in Ethiopia and training’s gone well.”

Farah has had a long relationship with the TCS London Marathon stretching back to when he was just a teenager and ran the event’s Mini Marathon for young athletes.  Farah first appeared on London’s starting line in Blackheath in 2013, but only as a pacemaker where he dropped out just past the 20-K point on Tower Bridge.  Previous race director Dave Bedford had allowed Farah to pace and essentially do course reconnaissance for his debut the following year.

“It was incredible,” Farah told the BBC just after dropping out in 2013. “The support, people coming out for me.”  He said he had a lot to learn about the event.  “The bigger challenge is picking up the drinks and getting the right drinks,” Farah admitted.  “I really made a mess of it.  It’s one of the biggest lessons of my life, really.”

In 2014 Farah made his official marathon debut in London and his performance got mixed reviews.  While his eighth place finish in…