Farah: Night marathon? Why not?

Two-time Olympic distance running champion Mo Farah on Thursday supported the idea of staging the marathon events at night proposed by the organizers of 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

"A night marathon which is proven better for us in terms of climate, why not?" said the 32-year-old Briton, who was only the seventh man to claim the 5,000 and 10,000m double at the same Olympic Games when he managed the feat in London in 2012, during the pre-competition news conference ahead of Friday's 2015 Diamond League opener in Doha.

"Sometimes I look at athletics and think about how can we make it exciting? It can be exciting if we work together," Farah said. "I will probably carry on until the 2017 London World Championships and then after that go on to the marathon."

Farah competed in his first marathon race last April when he set a national record of 2:08:21 en route to finish eighth at the London Marathon. If he is able to maintain his form, the seasoned runner would possibly represent his country to take part in the marathon event in Doha in 2019.

Staging the marathon events on a specially-lit course to avoid the sweltering heat is one of the proposals brought forward by Qatar after their successful bid to host the 2019 event.

Qatar's Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF vice-president who also attended the press conference, insisted the idea of night marathon is an innovation by the organizers and definitely does not come from closed doors.

"When we proposed the night marathon, we did not propose is just because we sat on the table and said 'It's OK'. We have practised it and made a test for it," said Al Hamad.

"Innovation is something that we need," he stressed.

It was the first time for Farah to compete in Diamond League Doha meet. He will run in the 3,000m race in the Qatar Sports Club on Friday night and is expected to face fierce challenge from traditional distance running powers Ethiopia and Kenya. Enditem