A UK 10,000m record beckons for Farah at Hayward Park

MO FARAH will toe the line at the Prefontaine Classic on Friday where the double European champion faces one of the finest non-championship 10,000m fields of all-time.

The Newham & Essex Beagle will be contesting his fourth 10,000m race on June 3 and after his breakthrough season in 2010, the UK 5000m record-holder has continued to prove his ability at a spectrum of distances, which points towards a possible revision of Jon Brown's long-standing national record of 27:18.14.

The 28-year-old, who is currently at No.4 on the UK all-time 10,000m rankings, improved the national indoor 5000m record to 13:10.60 in Birmingham which was followed by a successful defence of his European indoor 3000m title in Paris. What's more, Farah showed great strength on his half-marathon debut, winning in New York in 60:23 – the fastest ever recorded by a British athlete. These performances augur very well for a stab at Brown's 13-year-old mark.

While early season form indicates Farah is capable of a UK record, Farah is still quite inexperienced at this level of competition and with the exception of his debut, more than three years ago, both of Farah's 10,000m races have been against continental fields of modest quality.

Farah's PB, however, stands at 27:28.86 from last year's European 10,000m Cup in Marseille but this performance is worth a good few seconds more as the British No.1 was devoid of opposition, finishing some 300m clear of the runner-up and indeed, Farah was some 70m clear of the opposition at the halfway mark.

As well as the opposition, the pace-making should also be of a higher calibre at Hayward Field as the athletes endowed with this duty include Tim Nelson, who holds a 10,000m PB of 27:28.19 and finished one place behind Chris Thompson at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational last month, as well as sub-13 5000m runner and Olympic finalist Thomas Longosiwa from Kenya.

Pre-competition favourites include world cross-country champion Imane Merga (27:15.94 PB), who opened his track campaign with a 5000m victory in Rome in 12:54.21 while Ethiopian compatriot Sileshi Sihine (26:39.69) is back in form after a succession of injuries.

In a race which must surely aid the selectors in their selections for Daegu, the Kenyans are also present with great strength in depth. World 10km record-holder Leonard Komon (26:57.08) starts among the leading contenders along with world cross-country runner-up Paul Tanui (27:17.61), Commonwealth silver medallist Daniel Salel (27:07.85), world bronze medallist Moses Masai (26:49.20), former world cross-country champion Joseph Ebuya (28:44.6A) and veteran Mark Kiptoo (27:14.67).

Zersenay Tadese from Eritrea (26:37.25), who is the world's leading road-racing exponent, also takes to the track for the first time since 2009.

And what about the Americans? Chris Solinsky gained immediate stardom in running circles when he lowered the US 10,000m record to 26:59.60 last year, thus becoming the first white athlete to break the 27-minute barrier. Solinsky spent most of last summer challenging the Rift Valley athletes on the Diamond League circuit and the 26-year-old will be at the fore on Saturday. He's already set PBs at 1500m (3:35.89) and the mile (3:54.52) in 2011.

Galen Rupp, who trains with Farah under the tutelage of Alberto Salazar in Oregon, has suffered a succession of defeats at the hands of his training partner but this shouldn't detract from the fact the US junior record-holder has been in fine shape too.

10,000m stats

World record: Kenenisa Bekele 26:17.53

US all-comers record: Kenenisa Bekele 26:25.97

European record: Mohammed Mourhit 26:52.30

UK all-time lists:

1. Jon Brown 27:18.14

2. Eamonn Martin 27:23.06

3. Chris Thompson 27:27.36

4. Mo Farah 27:28.86

5. Brendan Foster 27:30.3

6. Dave Bedford 27:30.80

7. Nick Rose 27:31.19

8. Julian Goater 27:34.58

Best marks for place list:

1. Kenenisa Bekele 26:17.53

2. Nicholas Kemboi 26:30.03

3. Abdullah Ahmad Hassan 26:38.76

4. Albert Chepkurui 26:50.67

5. Sammy Kipketer 26:52.60

6. Mark Bett 26:52.93

7. Zersenay Tadese 27:04.70

8. Habtamu Fekadu Ashaw 27:06.47

9. Eshetu Wendimu 27:11.93

10. Sammy Kipketer 27:14.04

11. Raji Assefa 27:15.68

12. Simon Munyi 27:22.29