Mo Farah targets fifth straight Bupa London 10,000 victory
25 May 2013
The Bupa London 10,000m and third race in the runbritain Grand Prix series takes place on Bank Holiday Monday (27th May) and London 2012 double Olympic Champion, Mo Farah, will be targetting his fifth straight victory.
The man at the top of the National Ladder for runbritain Handicap scores has been an ever-present at this 10K central London road event since it started in 2008. After finishing third in the inaugural race, he has dominated ever since, winning four in a row and notching up British records in 2009 and 2010. His winning time three years ago of 27 minutes 44 seconds remains the men's course record.
Last year Farah chose to cruise home in a relatively modest 29:21, as he geared up for a glorious summer which climaxed at the Olympic Games last August when he won gold at 5000m and 10,000m.
The poster boy of British distance running will return to the London streets hoping to give himself a chance to assess his form and fitness ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Moscow where he hopes to retain his 5000m title and add the world 10,000m crown to his growing collection of honours.
British international Amy Whitehead leads the women's field on her London 10K debut. The 34-year-old Sale Harrier was 13th in the 2013 Virgin London Marathon last month, the second Briton home behind Susan Partridge, who is at the top of the Women's Ladder for runbritain handicap scores.
Once a junior cross country international snapping at Paula Radcliffe's heels, Whitehead emerged from an enforced break due to injuries, motherhood and teaching to smash her marathon best at the 2011 London Marathon despite setting off from the mass start. This is her first appearance at the Bupa London 10,000 but she was third over 10K in Brighton last November when she set her PB of 33:48.
Alongside the elites will be teams of up to six runners from UK clubs competing for places in the UK 10K championship race, with the cumulative times of the first three finishers counting towards the team prize.
Running with them will be 10,000 fun runners, celebrities and charity fund raisers looking for lifetime bests and personal satisfaction on the roads where the world's best marathon runners raced for Olympic glory just 10 months' ago! If you are running, jogging or walking round on Monday - good luck - and don't forget to claim your Handicap score after the event!
More news from RunTogether
