Farah unhappy with marathon staff despite record-breaking result

LONDON: Mo Farah was unhappy with the way staff at the London Marathon handled a mishap with his drinks bottle, even though he went on to break the British record on Sunday.

Farah finished third with a time of two hours six minutes 21 seconds in only his second London Marathon, behind Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge who picked up his third London title in unusually warm temperatures in the English capital.

However, Farah's afternoon did not get off to a good start when he was involved in a bizarre incident where he seemed to miss his drinks bottle around the 10-mile mark and had to turn back for it.

In the aftermath, the multiple Olympic track champion was seen to be having a heated debate with a steward on a motorbike.

"The drink station was confusing -- I was table four, I went to pick it up. The staff were helpful at the end but at the beginning they were trying to take a picture rather than giving me the drink," Farah told the BBC.

"I was saying to the people on motorbikes to tell the staff to be a bit helpful instead of taking pictures. I wasn't wasting energy, I just needed a drink. I had to get it right."

The setback did not affect Farah though, as he went on to better Steve Jones's British record -- set at the Chicago Marathon in 1985 -- by an impressive 68 seconds.

Farah was delighted with the result, while lightheartedly suggesting he could compete in the Athletics World Championships in Doha next year.

"I'm satisfied with the result. I can't do any better than what I did," Farah said.

"I learned the hard way today, running the hard way, but I'm pleased overall because if you looked at the field before we started that race you would never put me in third place, you would put ahead of me so many other guys.

"My aim is to run another marathon in the autumn and then see what happens in the summer of 2019. Doha, eh?"