Britain’s Mo Farah finished third at the London Marathon in a new British record as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge won the race for a third time.
Farah kept pace with the leaders for much of the race but was two minutes and four seconds behind Kipchoge.
He crossed the line in two hours, six minutes and 21 seconds to beat Steve Jones’ 33-year-old British record.
The four-time Olympic champion was competing in his first 26.2-mile race since retiring from the track.
Kipchoge – regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time – was on course for a new world record but slowed in the final stages of a grueling race in record-high temperatures to finish in 2:04:17.
That was 80 seconds outside the record held by his compatriot Dennis Kimetto.
Ethiopa’s Tola Shura Kitata finished in a surprise second place, 32 seconds behind Kipchoge.
Farah’s only previous marathon was in London in 2014 when he finished eighth.
He returned this year having given up track racing to focus on the marathon and faced a stellar field including Kipchoge, three-time Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele and last year’s London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru.
He beat both Bekele and Wanjiru and finished 52 seconds inside Jones’ British record, set in 1985.
