Ahead of Mo Farah's marathon debut experts believe he stands any chance of winning

Ahead of Mo Farah’s much-hyped marathon debut in London on Sunday, few expert observers believed he stood any chance of winning. But his lacklustre eighth place finish and modest time of 2hr 8min 21sec, which failed to even threaten a nearly 30-year-old British record, will leave the track star questioning if he has a future on the roads.

The lessons from his debut appear to be two-fold: first, the double Olympic and World champion over 5,000 and 10,000m is better built for speed, illustrated last year when he clocked the sixth fastest 1500m of all time.

Even his 5,000 and 10,000m golds have been more down to his wily racing tactics closed off with a staggering finishing kick, something that counts for little over 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometres).

Second, east African distance powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia have raised the bar so high over the distance— their top runners regularly clocking times below 2:05—that what was a good time a decade ago will now only leave you in the also-ran category.

On any given day, for every eight elite Kenyans and Ethiopians, one or two of them stand a chance of being in aggressive, record-breaking form—as was the case in London on Sunday for Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang.

Analysts see Farah temporarily ditching his marathon ambitions and returning to the track for the time being, perhaps seeking to defend his track titles in Rio in 2016.