With a grimace and reaching up to slap his own head, Mo Farah ran across the finish line winning the fourth-fastest 10,000 meters at Hayward Field Friday night at the Prefontaine Classic with a time of 26 minutes, 50.97 seconds.
Kenyan Paul Kipngetich Tanui placed second in 26:51.86 and was followed by his countryman, Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor, in third at 26:52.65.
The race started fast with the eventual race leaders sometimes jumping ahead of the pacers. “You’ve got to race the best guys in the field,” Farah said. “Mine was today, not just trying to win the race, but trying to run fast. And that was always the idea of doing the 10,000.” It’s a distance Farah hasn’t lost at since 2011.
Soft-spoken and standing barefoot, Farah arrived in the media tent with his daughters.
“I like Hayward Field for its support for the crowd, and it’s quite famous for distance,” Farah said. “The crowd loved distance races.”
The field of 27 runners spread out after the first few thousand meters, and the top three runners were able to separate themselves. As the runners circled the track, the crowd’s rhythmic claps followed the runners, like the wave at a football game.
Farah, Paul Tanui and Geoffrey Kamworor ran as a pack and traded the lead throughout the race, working together to push the pace. Unfortunately, it was not quite as fast as the top runners had hoped. “It just didn’t have the even pace where someone at the front takes you through to 5K, 6K, evenly,” said Farah.
While Farah continues to maintain his dominance in the distance races, he continues to push himself.
“I think as an athlete you’ve got to test yourself,” he said. “Your body only allows you to do certain things. So, if training is going well, then why not? That’s how I see it. There’s nothing to be scared of. I know I’ve won medals and Olympics and worlds, but at the same time I want to know what I’m still good at. I enjoy doing different events, and sometimes it’s a lot easier to be able to do distance that no one expects you to do well.”
As the season gets underway, Farah doesn’t plan to run another 10K until the world championships August in Beijing. His next race will be a 1,500 at the next Diamond League race in Birmingham when he returns to Great Britain.
