"my aim is not to finish otherwise it's pointless"

Mo Farah is a role model. But a role model shouldn't be saying things like the above.

I didn't see the athletics from Birmingham yesterday, I've just picked the quote up from the BBCIplayer as I sit down to watch the coverage now.

For about thirty seconds this morning I thought the London Marathon was going to have an extra treat for me when I saw the headline in the papers.

I'm going to be watching the London Marathon for the first time since (I think) 2004 and the lineup up of world class marathon runners trying to win the most competitive marathon in the world is something to make the mouth water. For someone to be paid more than any of them to drop out at half way is just wrong and is the sort of celebrity coverage that I despise.

If he wants to run and wave to the crowds ahead of the race - fine. But he shouldn't hijack the real race coverage.

It was a nice day here today and I got out and about - I certainly didn't go and sit on the fence!

I  felt the same a couple of weeks ago. I have bought the Independent newspaper since it launched in 1986 - I have probably bought more than 90% of all editions. When I picked up the paper on 1 February and looked at the back page first (as all sports enthusiasts surely do!) I was astounded to find a lack of meaningful sports coverage but instead there were three pages about a "has been" footballer who has signed for a French club so that he can earn millions of pounds promoting the owner's country afterwards. And he was on page one and page three as well. A letter was hastily despatched to the editor concluding with: "the switch to tabloid size printing was welcome; the switch to "tabloid" journalism is not."

Read this:

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/news-and-media/news-and-media/press-release-25-01-13-best-ever-field-assembled-2/

These guys have the aim of finishing otherwise it will pointless.