Mo Farah once again made history on Britain’s roads with a record-breaking fifth Great North Run victory.
The four-time Olympic champion was at his brilliant best throughout, setting a hot pace from the start and crossing the line in a new course record of 59m26s – 31 seconds clear of New Zealand’s Jake Robertson.
The time was just four seconds outside of Farah’s personal best but the manner of his win is a positive sign going into the Chicago Marathon next month.
“I'm in much better shape than I was last year,” he said.
“Training is different now as I'm not in the track season. I've been doing longer runs in terms of endurance so I'm definitely fitter.
“The most important thing is seeing how I am in the race and controlling myself. Just coming into that headwind it was so tough, I wasn't going smooth - I was going up and down.
”I honestly thought I could beat my personal best today but those last two miles really hurt.”
Farah switched his attention to road racing at the end of last season and finished third at the London Marathon in April.
And now he is set for another of the world’s great events, the Chicago Marathon – where he hopes to become Great Britain’s first winner since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.
The Great North Run is the perfect warm-up event for such a major race and it turned into a family affair with Farah's wife Tanya running with the public.
He added: “I have been coaching and helping her out. I am looking out for her. Hopefully the kids have been watching at home!
“I have not seen my kids in the last four weeks. I did not want to come back to the UK for this race and see them for two days and confuse them so I am going back to America and hoping to get the job done in Chicago first.” Sportsbeat 2018