Legendary runner Mo Farah retires
Earlier this year, Farah revealed he would retire after attending the Great North Run. Wearing a bib with the words "Sir Mo", Farah completed the distance of 21.0975 km in 1 hour 3 minutes 28 seconds.
Farah is a six-time Great North Run champion and was warmly welcomed by fans as he crossed the finish line. "There were a lot of things going through my head today," the 40-year-old runner told the BBC. "I want to finish my career at Newcastle. I won six times and came back here after the world and Olympic championships."
Farah is a 5,000m and 10,000m running superstar, having won four Olympic gold medals and six world championship gold medals. The runner born in 1983 switched to competing in long distances from 2017, participating in the London Marathon three times with his best performance being third in 2018. Farah's best achievement in the marathon is winning the Chicago Marathon with British record result - 2 hours 5 minutes 11.
However, the 40-year-old athlete has not regularly participated in events in the past three years due to injury, and even suffered a shocking defeat to Ellis Cross - an amateur runner of a movement club - at the Vitality London 10K 2022. At that time, , Farah crossed the finish line second with a time of 28 minutes 44 seconds, 4 seconds slower than Cross and nearly a minute away from his personal best (PB).
The British athletics legend admitted struggling with injuries over the past few years and wants to enjoy time with his family after retirement. Farah revealed that he will stop running, including parkrun - a collection of free 5km running events for walkers, runners and volunteers that takes place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 22 countries. .
"I will be very emotional because running is all I know," Farah expressed. "I had a lot of fun, a lot of memorable moments. I'll definitely miss running, but you won't see me doing it. I'll go to the gym, play soccer, golf. Now I I just want to rest and find something that can motivate me."
The Great North Run is the world's largest half marathon, taking place every year in North East England in September. Participants will run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields - a route run by former 10,000m Olympic bronze medalists and Designed by BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. The Great North Run was first held in 1981 with 12,000 athletes. This number increased to 54,000 in 2011.
At this year's tournament, Tamirat Tola of Ethopia - Eugene 2022 world marathon champion - finished first with 59 minutes 58 seconds. Peres Jepchirchir won the women's race in 1 hour, 6 minutes and 45 seconds.
