NEWCASTLE: British track great Mo Farah became the first home runner to win the men’s Great North Run race since Steve Kenyon in 1985, as he won a thrilling duel with Kenyan and former training partner Mike Kigen in Newcastle on Sunday.
The 31-year-old 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic champion went to the front as the athletes entered the last kilometre of the race run over the half marathon distance and although Kigen tried to come back at him Farah sustained his lead.
“It’s great to finish the season with a victory and a great time,” said Farah. “I had to dig deep as Kigen is a great athlete. He just kept pushing and pushing and I had to find more.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s race, Kenya’s Mary Keitany showed no signs of rustiness after taking time off to have a baby as she stormed to set a new race record of one hour 05 minutes and 39 seconds bettering by a second the old mark held by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe. AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2014.
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