Fresh from his first world record at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix meeting last month over the 2 miles distance, Britain's double Olympic champion from 2012 and reigning world champion, Mo Farah has been busy re-writing the record books yet again over the weekend. This time his target was the European best for the half-marathon in Lisbon and his superb winning time of 59 minutes and 32 seconds, was an improvement on the old best time by 20 seconds.
Farah's target to beat had been set some 14 years ago by the Spaniard Fabian Roncero, although the Britain's first target would surely have been to become the first athlete from his country to crack the (still) magical 60 minute barrier for the distance.
He had come so close at last year's Great North Run where he stopped the clock at exactly one hour. The race was not merely a procession for the 31-year-old athlete though, as he had stiff competition from the Kenyan Micah Kogo, who pushed him all the way to the line. It was the Brit who chested the tape first though, just a second ahead of Kogo, and seemed to get tangled up in it as he fell to the ground just over the line, but no damage was believed to have been done as a result. Kogo was always likely to be one of Farah's main challengers for the title, having previously dipped under 60 minutes himself for the distance and also having track pedigree, as indicated by his Olympic bronze medal over 10km in Beijing from 2008.
Stephen Kibet, also from Kenya finished third in 59:58. The top ten places were dominated by African athletes, with Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda all represented. Second Brit home was Nick Samuels in 23rd place (68:59).
The world best for the half-marathon is still some way beyond Farah's reach though, as that is still safely held by Zersenay Tadese from Eritrea at 58:23, a time that was set back in 2010 also in Lisbon.
There was further success for Britain in the other half-marathon events that took place yesterday, with Paralympic star David Weir taking the men's wheelchair race in 43 minutes and 21 seconds. Weir was involved in another close tussle, before edging out Marcel Hug from Switzerland in a photo-finish. Shelly Woods matched Weir's achievement in the women's wheelchair event, beating her compatriot Jade Jones with a time of 50:33.
Both Weir and Woods will line up in the London Marathon in April, with their victories suggesting that their preparations for the full marathon distance are shaping up nicely.
Kenya's Rose Chelimo took the elite women's race in a time of 68:22, with Portugal's very own Sara Moreira second in 69:18, closely followed by another Kenyan Prisca Jeptoo, just three seconds further back. First British athlete home was Sonia Thomas-Samuels in 12th place (74:20).
