Paula Radcliffe warns Mo Farah not to waste brief moment of brilliance

• Radcliffe warns Farah that peak form has 'short window'
• Farah planning to run 13 miles of London marathon
Mo Farah prepares for the London Marathon
The double Olympic gold-medalist Mo Farah, who is planning to run the first 13 miles of the London Marathon. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Paula Radcliffe has urged Mo Farah to make the most of his remarkable form and not leave it too late to race the full marathon distance, as the 30-year-old embarks on a run to the midway point of Sunday's London Marathon.

The double Olympic gold medallist's decision to run half the marathon has attracted criticism from former athletes, and Radcliffe, whose 2hr 15min 25sec run in London 10 years ago remains the women's world record, fears that Farah may miss his chance to excel over 26.2 miles.

The 39-year-old, who has mentored the Londoner since his days as a junior, said: "Being in that shape does have a short window. That's one of the things I've been trying to say to Mo. Appreciate it while it's there. When you're there you think it's going to last forever, you think you're just unbeatable. Then you get to the point where probably your body still could do it, but not quite, and your mind almost knows that so you don't ever have that feeling again of 'Whatever happens I can cope with it and I can do it and I can beat everyone.' That only does last for a small window of time."

Radcliffe, who won the London Marathon on her debut in 2002, failed to win an Olympic medal in Athens 2004 just over a year after her record‑breaking run and spent the next decade striving to time her fitness and form for an Olympic final to no avail.

"I remember Crammy [Steve Cram] talking about 'the purple patch' and saying it's only a short period of time and then it will go and you'll almost be hanging on to it but you won't ever get back there. And don't fight it, just enjoy it while you're there. I said the same to Mo: just enjoy it. It's not until it's gone that you realise how strong you feel mentally. You feel you can cope with anything.

"I don't think you probably enjoy it as much as you should do – and probably that's why you're able to do it because you're not thinking about it. You're just so focused on the next target all the time."

Farah plans to run to the 13-mile mark in London before dropping out of the field in an exercise designed to give him a better feel for the distance over which he hopes to make his full debut next year.

Reflecting on the 26.2mile distance Farah revealed that there are many unknowns in the event, not least where the pain will strike. "I'm all right dealing with pain but it's different pain. Being a track runner to a marathon is completely different. When you are running, sprinting you are upright, on your toes. In a marathon it is different. You might get pain in your calves – I don't know, it's all a learning curve."

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