Mo Farah sets new British record in New Orleans half-marathon

Britain's Mo Farah edged out Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam in a dramatic finish to win the New Orleans half-marathon in a new national record.

The pair left the rest of the field trailing, but it was Farah who grabbed the glory as a sprint finish gave him victory in 61 minutes.

"I was really pushing it," said double Olympic gold medallist Farah, 29.

Fellow Briton Scott Overall was seventh in 1:04:52, while Helen Clitheroe was fourth in the women's race in 1:11:47.

Farah actually ran faster in New York in 2011. However, that time of 60:23 was not officially ratified due to the gradient on the course.

The previous official record was 61:03 by Nick Rose at Philadelphia in 1985.

"It was definitely a fast course and had good guys pushing the pace," he said. "With about 200 metres left, I just kicked it in."

Farah plans to run half of this year's London Marathon before taking on the full distance in 2014.

"It's not going to be easy, I'm going to have to train for it," he added. "It is going to be a completely different ball game.

"Today does not necessarily mean that I am going to be amazing at it, I've got to go out there and do it. It is definitely going to be a longer race and going to be exciting. I am quite excited."

However, the major target for the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion in 2013 is to repeat his London 2012 success at August's World Championships in Moscow.