Farah wins as crowds enjoy a sunny Bank Holiday in London

Mo Farah delighted the crowds who had come to see the double Olympic champion running through his home city on Monday as he secured his fifth consecutive Bupa London 10,000 title with an effortless victory in the bright bank holiday sun.

Farah took off just after 2km and raced away from the domestic field on a looping course around the City of London before crossing the finish line on The Mall in glorious isolation in 29 minutes 13 seconds. Farah’s finishing time was eight seconds quicker than he ran here last year, but someway adrift of the British record of 27:44 he set in 2010.

Katrina Wootton won the women’s race by a similarly large margin from the former world junior 1500m champion, Steph Twell.

Farah’s comfortable victory extended an unbeaten run in outdoor races that goes back to the 10,000m final at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu when he lost a sprint finish to Ethiopia’s Ibrahim Jeilan.

Farah looked to be enjoying every minute, racing back towards Westminster along Victoria Embankment swapping hand-slaps and high fives with the mass runners jogging in the opposite direction along the other side of the carriageway. Many stopped to take photos and do the Mobot, Farah’s signature victory gesture.

“It was awesome out there today,” he said afterwards. “The support was great and it’s nice to give something back to the British people. It was great to win my fifth title.”

If Farah’s win was predictable, Wootton’s was something of a surprise, not least to herself.

“It was amazing to be so far out in the lead, although I was worried about the quality field behind me. The Olympics created such a buzz for London so I wanted to come here and experience that. The Bupa London 10,000 is an amazing event.”

“The atmosphere at today’s race was amazing,” agreed Twell, who was a minute outside her PB less than 24 hours after finishing third in the Bupa Westminster Mile.

It was a sentiment shared by many of the other 15,000 finishers on another glorious late spring day in central London.

On Sunday Hannah England and Charlie Grice thrilled the London crowds with two tight sprint finishes in the sunshine in St James’s Park as they clinched victory in the first British Athletics One Mile Road Championship. Paralympic gold medallist David Weir also delighted his supporters as he returned to winning form to beat his nearest rival by almost a minute in the senior men’s wheelchair race as around 3000 took to the streets in the inaugural Bupa Westminster Mile.

Well done to everyone who did the Bupa London 10,000 and Westminster Mile!