Mo Farah on London Marathon: ‘From 20 miles the wheels fell off and I was just hanging on’

Farah finished in an impressive 2hr 5min 39sec but he was not able to keep pace with the Kenyan, who accelerated into the distance around halfway through the race

Mo Farah said “the wheels fell off” in the final six miles of the London Marathon after finishing fifth, as Eliud Kipchoge sealed his fourth victory in record time.

Farah finished in an impressive 2hr 5min 39sec but he was not able to keep pace with the Kenyan, who accelerated into the distance around halfway through the race.

“I felt great as I started off early on, I wanted to follow the pacemaker,” said Farah. ”Felt great at halfway, but then when the pacemaker dropped out the gap was there.

“My aim was to just reel them in and not let them get too far ahead. From 20 miles the wheels fell off and I was just hanging on. Congratulations, the better man won on the day.”

The buildup to the race had been dominated by a strange sideshow, as Farah was embroiled in a row with the Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie, but he insisted it had no impact on his performance.

“Training went well. Not at all, For me I was concentrating on the race. I didn’t want it to happen that way but it did happen and honestly what I said is the truth, but at the same time it’s all about the London Marathon and I didn’t mean to take any limelight away from the London Marathon but at the same time I just put my head down and did what I needed to do.

“I think at the minute my brain is all over the place, so I’ll sit back, go home and spend some time with my kids, have a chat with my coach and my agent and try and just plan out. Perhaps if I’d done better today and won the race it’s a different story and you know exactly what you’re doing, but now I just need to take a step back and see what I can do.

“I think for me I want to do a marathon. I think what I’ve done today justifies what I’ve done in training. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get the best out of myself but at the same time I gave it my all and that’s what it was. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to challenge the top two but at the same time I ran close to a personal best.”