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Sir Mo Farah has run the marathon as fast as 2:05:11. That’s fast. But in comparison to Eliud Kipchoge with his world record of 2:01:39 and Kenenisa Bekele having run 2:01:41 in adverse conditions, 2:05:11 does not stack up. The marathon has been run at sub-2:05:11 no less than 158 times.
Does Farah have what it takes to knock a couple of minutes off his personal best? The short answer is probably.
Number 3️⃣ for Sir @Mo_Farah 🔥 #BigHalf | #WeRunAsOne pic.twitter.com/GZE5LoTXRn
— The Big Half (@OfficialBigHalf) September 4, 2022
Farah’s 5000m and 10,000m personal bests according to the World Athletics points scoring system — distances that he specialised in and won four Olympic gold medals for are not that much faster.
His 5000m best is 12:53.11 at 1235 points. His 10,000m best is 26:46.57 scored at 1248 points and run in 2011 — a long time ago. That 2:05:11 is valued at 1241 points. All of them are national records. His half marathon best is 59:32, although he has run a not-ratified 59:07.
At the Big Half last weekend, he clocked a 1:01:39 performance for the win. The next London Marathon is Sunday, October 2. Starting in 2023, the race will return to its usual spring (likely, but not confirmed month of April) date.
Kipchoge’s bests are 12:46.53, 26:49.02, and 59:25. It could be argued that Kipchoge did not explore his potential fully over the 5000m and 10,000m having moved up to the marathon earlier in age than Farah has done.
Bekele was the world record holder in both events with his bests of 12:37.35 and 26:17.53. Keep in mind that these times were run before super shoes.
Bekele was 37 when he ran Berlin in the time of 2:01:41. Kipchoge was age 34 when he ran his best marathon. Farah is 39.
Depending on the weather and competition around him, Farah could knock approximately one minute off of his own lifetime best. Add in the unknown factor with supershoes and perhaps he may run a 2:03:XX to put himself in the conversation with the great Haile Gebrselassie, however, it will always be compared to “Gebr” running the first sub-2:04:00, not in supershoes.
It will be entertaining to see what he can do in the marathon, in perhaps one of his final world-class-level races, 2:03:30 to 2:04:00 is very possible, however, matching his best of 2:05:11 is more likely.
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