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Mo Farah says September’s Great North Run will be his final competitive race.<\/span><\/p>\n The four-time Olympic champion, who also said he would compete in the Great Manchester 10k in May, finished ninth in his final London Marathon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Part of me was wanting to cry,” the 40-year-old Briton told BBC Sport after crossing the finish line. “I will miss that feeling, I am emotional today. <\/span><\/p>\n “I want to pass that on. The Great North Run is going to be my last ever run and that will be my goodbye.”<\/span><\/p>\n Farah enjoyed his finest moment at London 2012, winning the 5,000m and 10,000m titles, and repeated the feat at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.<\/span><\/p>\n Having won the Great North Run six times, the half-marathon race on 10 September will provide a fitting send-off for Britain’s most decorated long-distance runner.<\/span><\/p>\n “My career has been amazing, my wife and kids have been with me throughout this journey and I want to give time to them now, as well as getting involved in grassroots sport and give back to this sport,” Farah added.<\/span><\/p>\n The father-of-four had already announced that this year’s London Marathon would be his last.<\/span><\/p>\n His time of two hours, 10 minutes 28 seconds was more than five minutes off his personal best and nine minutes behind 23-year-old Kenyan winner Kelvin Kiptum.<\/span><\/p>\n He said: “Training went well and I was confident. I thought I could do between 2:05 and 2:07 but you never know with the marathon.<\/span><\/p>\n “I gave it my all but my body just wasn’t responding and that’s when you know when it’s time to call it a day.”<\/span><\/p>\n But Farah made sure he enjoyed every last second, lapping up the crowd’s support.<\/span><\/p>\n “London has been so great to me over the years and I wanted to be here to say thank you to the crowd and the support was just amazing,” said Farah.<\/span><\/p>\n “I started here at the mini marathon and to finish here is just incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n “If somebody had said to that kid running the mini marathon that I’ll be Olympic champion, he would never have believed it. <\/span><\/p>\n “The sport needs this, we need to give back to the young athletes and teach them what is possible with hard work.”<\/span><\/p>\n The first British man home was not Farah, but Yorkshire’s Emile Cairess, who finished a creditable sixth on his marathon debut.<\/span><\/p>\n‘You know when it’s time to call it a day’<\/h3>\n