Mo Farah targets British 5000m record

EUROPEAN indoor champion Mo Farah has developed a taste for breaking records.

RECORD BREAKER: Mo Farah targets yet another British record after a successful first half of 2009 (Getty Images)

The 26-year-old diminutive long-distance runner twice broke the British 3000m indoor record this winter - beating John Mayock's seven-year-old record in January, before slashing a further six seconds off in Birmingham a month later.

Just last week Farah clocked 27:50 minutes in the BUPA London 10km road race - another British record and one that had stood for 25 years.

And the Somalia-born ace has now targeted the Crystal Palace Grand Prix on July 24 to surpass Dave Moorcroft's 27-year-old 5000m record of 13:00.41m.

"I didn't realise I'd broken the British record last weekend, so that was an added bonus," said Farah. "Now I want to go on and see what else I can manage this summer.

"I'm racing over 5000m in London, and I want to go out there and give it my best. If I can get another British record under my belt then I'll be happy.

"I know I've got it in me to run under 13 minutes - I've just got seven seconds to knock off my own time. I hope I can do that in front of the London crowd."

Farah's emergence as one of Great Britain's leading track athletes comes off the back of a disappointing Olympic debut in Beijing - where he failed to reach the 5000m final.

But a determination to put things right in 2009 has already seen Farah clinch major silverware as he topped the 3000m podium at March's European Championships in Turin.   

And having spent an extensive period in Kenya, training at high altitude in preparation for the outdoor season, Farah, who finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships, is convinced he can improve on that in Berlin in August.

"I benefited a lot over the winter when I was out in Kenya training, so I wanted to give myself another strong start to the season," he added.

"It would be great to continue the success I had at the beginning of the year, and I believe I'm in the sort of form where that will be possible.

"The World Championships are very important to me this summer, so obviously I am concentrating on that, but every race in the build up to Berlin is important, to prove I am in great shape to me and everyone around me."