There was no glorious farewell for Mo Farah in the city where he burnt himself into the national consciousness as he struggled home in ninth place in his final London marathon. But the 40-year-old, who confirmed afterwards that he will retire in September, was grateful that he made it to the finish – due, in part, to the huge crowds that swelled the route from Greenwich to the Mall.
Farah, one of the eternal faces of London’s 2012 Olympic Games, even found himself beaten by two British athletes: the 25-year-old Emile Cairess, who showed immense promise to finish sixth in his debut marathon, and Phil Sesemann, who combines running with his day job as a junior doctor for the NHS, yet still came eighth. Intriguingly Cairess and Sesemann often train together in Leeds, although they no longer go on slower runs together after Cairness tripped over Sesemann’s dogs, Haile and Kipchoge, named after two legendary athletes.
