Farah and Keitany Successfully Defend Great North Run Titles

Published by IAAF on September 13, 2015

Mo Farah and Mary Keitany successfully defended their titles at the Morrisons Great North Run, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Sunday (13).

Britain’s double world champion produced another thrilling performance with a sprint finish, winning in 59:22 to beat Kenya’s Stanley Biwott by just two seconds. Mike Kigen of Kenya took third in 1:00:10, followed by Stephen Mokoka of South Africa in 1:00:40. Uganda’s Thomas Ayeko was fifth in 1:01:14.

The point-to-point course of the Great North Run is not eligible for records, so while Farah’s time is the fastest of his career, it will not count as a European record. Farah broke that mark earlier this year in Lisbon with 59:32.

The pace of the men’s race was moderate in the first 10km with five runners – Farah, Biwott, Kigen, Mokoka and Kenya’s Stephen Sambu – passing that checkpoint in 28:45, indicating a finishing time outside 60 minutes.

However, when Biwott started to push the pace, first Sambu, then Mokoka and finally last year’s runner-up Kigen lost contact.