Sir Mo Farah breaks British record with third-place London Marathon finish

Transition from the track to the road goes well as London crowds cheer Farah on.

Sir Mo Farah had to keep his cool and his bottle as he broke the British record by finishing third in a gruelling Virgin Money London Marathon.

The 35-year-old struggled with the pace, the heat and mix-ups over water bottles, but he still beat Steve Jones’ 33-year-old mark with a time of two hours six minutes and 21 seconds.

Farah, the multiple Olympic and world gold medallist who turned his back on the track last year to concentrate on road racing, briefly threatened a shock victory in his first serious attempt around the streets of the capital.

But having appeared on the shoulders of Eliud Kipchoge and Tola Shura Kitata around the 16-mile mark, Farah quickly dropped off the pace.

Kenyan Kipchoge, who won the race in 2015 and 2016, eventually broke 21-year-old Ethiopian Kitata with three miles to go to make it a hat-trick of wins.

An exhausted Farah, who finished just over two minutes behind Kipchoge, admitted: “The pace was fast, I was surprised.

“I just had to go with it and see what happened, and if you’re gonna die you’re gonna die.

Eliud Kipchoge won a third men's London Marathon — Eliud Kipchoge won a third men’s London Marathon (Paul Harding/PA)

“But to finish third with a personal best, a British record, on the podium, I can’t do any better than that.

“The crowd really got behind me, it was an amazing atmosphere. I really enjoyed it – even though over the last 10km I was b*********.”

It was the hottest London Marathon on record with the temperature reaching 23 degrees Celsius – although it was estimated to be even hotter on the tarmac.

Farah crosses the finish line at the London Marathon (Paul Harding/PA)

“The drink station was confusing,” he added. “The staff were helpful at the end but at the beginning they were trying to take a picture rather than giving me the drink.

“I was saying to the people on motorbikes to tell the staff to be a bit helpful. I wasn’t wasting energy, I just needed a drink. I had to get it right.”

Welshman Jones, who won the London Marathon in 1985, set his British record time of 2:07.13 in Chicago the same year.

Meanwhile, Paula Radcliffe’s world record survived as Vivian Cheruiyot timed her run to perfection to win the women’s race.

Vivian Cheruiyot crosses the line first to win the women's London Marathon title — Vivian Cheruiyot crosses the line first to win the women’s London Marathon title (Paul Harding/PA)

Once again the conditions told as first Dibaba, of Ethiopia, and then Cheruiyot’s fellow Kenyan Keitany fell away allowing the 2016 Olympic 5,000 metres gold medallist to claim victory.

Lily Partridge was the first British woman over the line in eighth place.

The 27-year-old said: “It is unbelievable. I felt absolutely fantastic until 35km and then it started to bite. And then it got slowly worse.”

Great Britain’s David Weir won the men’s wheelchair race for an unprecedented eighth time.

David Weir holds off Marcel Hug to win the men's wheelchair race — David Weir holds off Marcel Hug to win the men’s wheelchair race (Paul Harding/PA)

“The end was tougher than last year,” said Weir. “Mentally and physically, I felt better coming into this.

“The older I get, my endurance is getting better. At the beginning when I used to do marathons my endurance was rubbish, so I’m keeping the speed and gaining a bit more endurance base. I feel a lot stronger.”