Mo Farah has targeted Steve Jones' British record when he competes in the 2013 London Marathon
Mo Farah has targeted Steve Jones' 28-year-old British record when he competes in next year's London Marathon.
Last Updated: 22/04/13 5:10pm
Farah was criticised in some quarters for running only the first half of Sunday's event but insists he gained valuable experience during the race.
The 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion is convinced he can challenge Welshman Jones' winning time of two hours seven minutes 13 seconds, achieved in Chicago in 1985, the same year he tasted success in London.
If he does successfully make the step up in distance he would also become the first Briton since Eamonn Martin in 1993 to win the London Marathon.
"I'm looking forward to it and I hope that I can do it," Farah said of his plan to break the record.
"I would like to get close to it. It would be nice to come out in my first marathon and to smash that rather than having a bad one and running 2:13 or 2:10. I would like to go inside 2:09 and then anything can happen.
"But it will be my first marathon so we don't know what to expect.
"Yes, I am good at the half marathon, but that doesn't necessarily mean I am going to great at the marathon.
"You've seen someone like Zersenay Tadese, who's the world record holder at half marathon and it just hasn't quite worked out for him at the marathon. It's a challenge.
"You can't just think, 'This is my first marathon, I'm going to smash it'.
"It doesn't happen like that. It might happen one time and you might get it right, but it's a challenge."
