Mo Farah sets sights on Great North Run hat-trick after retaining title
Britain’s Mo Farah immediately targeted sealing a third Great North Run title after seeing off Kenya’s Stanley Biwott in a thrilling finish to retain his north-east crown yesterday.
Double Olympic and world champion Farah’s time of 59 minutes and 43 seconds was the fastest half-marathon time ever posted by a British athlete, while the 32-year-old is only the second Briton after Mike McLeod to win the race twice.
“I want to come back and see if I can do a hat-trick,” said Farah, who produced a trademark sprint finish to take the lead in the final 400m.
Kenya’s Mary Keitany won the women’s race in 1:07.32, three-and-a-half minutes ahead of British runner-up Gemma Steel, while six-time Paralympic gold medallist David Weir was victorious in the men’s wheelchair race for a record-equalling sixth time. Fellow Briton Shelley Woods claimed her seventh wheelchair title in the women’s event.