Mo Farah calls time on elite career after being beaten by club runner in Vitality London 10,000

Ellis Cross, 25, a self-described “club runner” who also works in the Up & Running store in Surbiton, southwest London, wore No 219 on his chest after failing to gain an elite entry into the road race. While the overjoyed Aldershot, Farnham and District athlete admitted to pinching himself, Farah, 39, accepted the stark reality.

Asked if the result had persuaded him his track career was done, the four-times Olympic and six-times world champion said: “I think for sure. I’m just being honest with you guys. In terms of track, that’s it, I think. I’m not a spring chicken any more.”

Cross said he only believed he could overhaul Farah, who has won the race seven times, in the final 20 metres as the runners finished in front of Buckingham Palace. His time of 28min 40sec was a personal best, with Farah four seconds adrift. “I did not expect this in a million years,” Cross said. “I didn’t expect it to happen. I haven’t followed the script, have I? I didn’t get an elite entry. I had to sleep in my own bed, wake at 6am and take the train in. I don’t have my name on my bib.

“When I was running around, everyone was calling out Mo’s name. No one knows who I am. I’m just a club runner. I was thinking if I could get anywhere near the top five that would be an unbelievable run. I just wanted a hard run out. I wasn’t looking at times and didn’t wear my watch.”

Farah did suggest there may be one more championship in his legs at either this summer’s Commonwealth Games or European Championships, but there was an air of resignation in his post-race words. This year’s big event, the World Championships, in Eugene, Oregon, is off the radar. The qualification time for that is 27.28. Farah, who stepped up to the marathon in 2017, has not managed that in the past five years. “I’ve been there and done it,” he said. “Unless I can compete with the guys you’ve got to be honest and make that decision.”

This was Farah’s first race since June, when he failed in his attempt to scratch his track itch and make one last Olympics after trying to conquer the marathon. He was hampered at the time with a stress fracture in his foot and revealed he then tore a quad muscle. “Even when I was trying to qualify for the Athens Olympics [in 2004], where I had stress fractures of both my pelvis bones, that didn’t take as long as the injury I had. It was at least six months with three months of no running at all.”

In fairness to Farah, he was not making excuses and explained the injuries only when pressed. He was also gracious to Cross. “It’s not a shock because it is where I am,” he said. “If I was in top shape and hadn’t had any time out it would be a shock. I couldn’t change gears. I just didn’t have that. Fair credit to him. He was very determined. Some athletes kind of look at you, but he didn’t fear anyone. I think that’s a good attitude to have.”

Cross is not a total unknown. A former British Universities & College Sport champion, he was fifth at the European Under-23 Championships in Poland in 2017 and works part-time coaching primary school children, but the look on his face spoke volumes. The £2,000 first prize will help too. “I was the junior national cross-country champion at under-20, but it’s definitely my biggest win.” What next? “I’m doing the Night of the 10,000m in Highgate. Last week I thought I might not even get into the A race, but hopefully I will now.” He will be spared another entry fee too. “Free entry goes a long way for someone like myself,” he said.

Farah’s future looks less certain. Unbeaten in six years until 2017, he won the Chicago Marathon in 2018 but was unfortunate in that his road career coincided with the Eliud Kipchoge era. After failing to make it to the Olympics last summer, he insisted: “This is not the end.” This time it may well be, although he will not retire just yet. “I’ve got to be the best athlete I can be and I have to believe I can win,” he said. “Today it looked like there’s a lot more work that needs to be done.”

In the women’s race Eilish McColgan, 31, was a mere two seconds outside of Paula Radcliffe’s 19-year-old European record as she clocked a winning time of 30.23. That was still enough to beat the Scottish record of her mother, Liz, and was a further sign of her impressive form as she battles back from Covid. Danny Sidbury and Samantha Kinghorn were the winners in the wheelchair races.

– The Times