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Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, Olympic and world record holder in both the 5,000m as well as the 10,000m beat Britain’s double world and Olympic champion Mo Farah to win the Great North Run held in the north-east of England between Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields.
In a thrilling finish, that saw both stars battle it out on the final home stretch, Ethiopian Bekele managed to hold off Farah’s late charge to prevail on top by just one second.
Another famous Ethiopian name, Haile Gebrselassie, finished a distant third after he fell by the wayside towards the closing stages over the last 13.1 miles of the race.
“I’m disappointed but I was second to a great athlete,” said Farah after finishing in one hour and 10 seconds.
There was much anticipation before the race, as onlookers and fans were eagerly awaiting the clash between Bekele, the world record holder, and Farah, the Olympic and world champion. Despite Farah’s double triumph, he is yet to better Bekele’s time in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
And they weren’t disappointed as the Farah chased down Bekele in the final 400m and ensured a grandstand finish with the two greats slugging it out on the home stretch.
“When Kenenisa went with a mile to go, I thought the pace was ridiculous,” said Farah, who won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the World Championships in Moscow last month.
“I thought I could come back. It came to the last 200m, right to the line. It was a great race and a great finish.”
Together with Gebrselassie, the three great names of the running world lay claim to 12 world titles and seven Olympic gold medals between them and were chugging along together for much of the race. That was, of course, until 31-year-old Bekele, who competing in his first half marathon, made an incisive break down one of the slopes to establish some daylight between him and his other established competitors.
Gebrselassie, now 40, couldn’t keep up with the other two. However, his time of 1:01:41 was still a world record over the distance for participants aged 40 and over.
