Mo Farah: Briton to finish career at Great North Run
- Published
London Marathon 2023: Mo Farah finishes ninth to complete his final marathon
Mo Farah says September's Great North Run will be his final competitive race.
The four-time Olympic champion, who also said he would compete in the Great Manchester 10k in May, finished ninth in his final London Marathon.
"Part of me was wanting to cry," the 40-year-old Briton told BBC Sport after crossing the finish line. "I will miss that feeling, I am emotional today.
"I want to pass that on. The Great North Run is going to be my last ever run and that will be my goodbye."
Farah enjoyed his finest moment at London 2012, winning the 5,000m and 10,000m titles, and repeated the feat at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Having won the Great North Run six times, the half-marathon race on 10 September will provide a fitting send-off for Britain's most decorated long-distance runner.
"My career has been amazing, my wife and kids have been with me throughout this journey and I want to give time to them now, as well as getting involved in grassroots sport and give back to this sport," Farah added.
'You know when it's time to call it a day'
Mo Farah's best performance at the London Marathon was third in 2018
The father-of-four had already announced that this year's London Marathon would be his last.
His time of two hours, 10 minutes 28 seconds was more than five minutes off his personal best and nine minutes behind 23-year-old Kenyan winner Kelvin Kiptum.
He said: "Training went well and I was confident. I thought I could do between 2:05 and 2:07 but you never know with the marathon.
"I gave it my all but my body just wasn't responding and that's when you know when it's time to call it a day."
But Farah made sure he enjoyed every last second, lapping up the crowd's support.
"London has been so great to me over the years and I wanted to be here to say thank you to the crowd and the support was just amazing," said Farah.
"I started here at the mini marathon and to finish here is just incredible.
"If somebody had said to that kid running the mini marathon that I'll be Olympic champion, he would never have believed it.
"The sport needs this, we need to give back to the young athletes and teach them what is possible with hard work."
The first British man home was not Farah, but Yorkshire's Emile Cairess, who finished a creditable sixth on his marathon debut.
"I beat Mo Farah but it's not the Mo Farah who was at the Olympics," said Cairess.