Mo Farah set for final farewell at Great North Run

Brit faces Geoffrey Kamworor and Muktar Edris on Sunday while Peres Jepchirir, Tirunesh Dibaba, Sharon Lokedi and Charlotte Purdue line up in women’s race

MO FARAH will enjoy an emotional farewell on Sunday (Sept 10) when he has his final competitive outing at the end of a long storied career. The 40-year-old has picked the AJ Bell Great North Run for the last serious race of his career and the streets are sure to be packed with well-wishers at an event he has won six times.

After placing fourth in The Big Half in London last weekend despite struggling with a slight cold, he looks unlikely to stride down South Shields this weekend in the lead. The opposition is fierce, too, including Geoffrey Kamworor and Muktar Edris. Wherever he places, though, Farah will be in the spotlight.

“I hope I’ll be better for the Great North Run,” he says. “I’ll go out there and give it my all.”

Kamworor is a three-time world half-marathon champion and two-time winner of the New York City Marathon in addition to finishing runner-up in the London Marathon five months ago. The Kenyan says: “Sir Mo Farah he has had such an incredible career, it’s exciting to be a part of his last ever race, but I’m obviously here to win and add my name to the list of champions.”

Edris, meanwhile, won the world 5000m title in 2017 ahead of Farah and then successfully defended his title in 2019. Over half-marathon he has a best of 58:40 and says: “I’ve raced Mo on the track but this is the first time we have met on the roads. I have great respect for him. After we raced in London 2017 World Championships, I named my son after him and I look forward to renewing our friendship and rivalry.”

Peres Jepchirchir, the Olympic marathon champion from Kenya, leads the women’s line-up against Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, the latter being a multiple global track and cross-country champion but now aged 37 and a mother-of-three.

Peres Jepchirchir

Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, the reigning New York City Marathon champion, also competes, whereas the British challenge is led by Charlotte Purdue.

Wheelchair racers include Sammi Kinghorn, Hannah Cockroft and Eden Rainbow-Cooper plus Johnboy Smith, Danny Sidbury and Nathan Maguire.

BBC1 coverage starts at 10am with the elite wheelchair race off at 10.30am, elite women at 10.35am and elite men and masses 11am with the televised coverage ending at 2pm.

Half-marathon men’s field

Sir Mo Farah GBR; Geoffrey…