Farah, winner of the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres at London 2012, took off just after two kiloemtres and raced away from the domestic field on a looping course around the City of London watched by large crowds on the public holiday before crossing the finish line on The Mall in 29min 13sec.

Farah's finishing time was eight seconds quicker than he ran here last year, but a long way short of the British record of 27:44 he set in 2010.

"It was most important to win the race today, I wasn't really looking for a time," said Farah, who finished 52 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Phil Wicks.

"It was really important to me to win my fifth title.

"Running in London is fun for me because I don't often race here.

"But it's going to get serious from here.


"I've got my first real test next Friday (May 31) at the Eugene Diamond League and I'm very excited about that. I've got to be ready for it.

"I've got to be more ready than I was last year."

Katrina Wootton won the women's race by a similarly large margin from the former world junior 1500m champion, Steph Twell, with Emily Pigeon third.

Like Farah, Wootton led from the two kilometres mark, and stretched away over the rest of the course to claim victory on her London 10,000 debut in 32:37. 

Pictures@David Wearn