Farah 'will respect marathon'

Golden moments may have become almost second nature to Mo Farah during his illustrious track career but he has urged patience in his quest to join the world marathon racing elite.

Farah will devote the first half of 2014 to preparations for the London Marathon as he bids to step up to challenge the likes of Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, who lowered the world record to 2:03.23 in Berlin in September.

But even for an athlete as extraordinary as the 30-year-old Farah, who this year added two World Championship golds to his 2012 London Olympics double, such an ambition is one that may take time to accomplish.

Farah said: "I don't think there's any pressure. I've never done a marathon before so it would be nice to go out and do well, but you've got to respect it. It will probably take three or four times to get the marathon right.

"I think you get an idea after the first one and you get the feel of it. Every athlete is different - some automatically become good on the track and then go straight into the marathon.

"I could be good at the marathon and I could not be, but I have a dream of running the streets of London and having the crowd behind me. I love the British public behind me and it's what I love to do."

Farah made his debut in the London Marathon in April but stopped at a pre-arranged point just before halfway as he sought to step up the gradual process of swapping his track spikes for the roads of his capital city.

He recently returned to full-time training in the United States after spending a family holiday on Richard Branson's private Caribbean island of Neckar where, among other things, he tried water-skiing for the first time.

"It was the first time I ever did it and I got the hang of it in the end," Farah said.

"The two weeks went by so fast and the hardest thing is to have two weeks off then start training again. It wasn't easy."

Farah's Moscow double brought him plenty more acclaim including another place on the BBC's 10-strong shortlist for the Sports Personality of the Year, and claims by some that he now deserves to be ranked as Britain's number one all-time track athlete.

Farah, who admitted he would be voting for Andy Murray in Sunday's ceremony in Leeds, added: "When people say you deserve to be looked at in the same way as Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram and all those great athletes, it's definitely an honour."