The British marathon record holder and Scotland’s Twell also clinched the British 10k Championships crowns.

Mo Farah returned to the streets of London after his London Marathon exploits to win the men’s race at the Vitality London 10,000 on Monday (May 28) in 29:44, while Steph Twell ran a superb race to win the women’s title in 32:34.

Newham & Essex Beagles’ John Beattie was the early leader in the men’s race before Farah took charge at the 4km mark.

Photo: Vitality London 10,000

Farah, who won over 10km in Manchester last week, always looked comfortable and didn’t pull away too early from a chasing pack that included Beattie, Jonny Mellor, Matt Sharp, Richard Allen, Nick Samuels and Mohamud Aadan. Sharp temporarily leapt to the front before Farah took charge again with 2km to go with Aldershot’s Allen hanging on.

The multiple track gold medallist was in control from that point and sealed a five second win ahead of Allen to claim his sixth Vitality London 10,000 victory.

“The pace was nice and comfortable and I really enjoyed the race,” said Farah. “I was happy with the win, which is the most important thing, but it was nice to be able to run alongside club runners who look up to you.

“It was good to forget about who you are, and what you have achieved, and just enjoy the moment, which is what I did out there.”

Allen, who won the England 5k championships last month and clocked 28:54 on the track at the Night of the 10,000m PBs last week, crossed the line in 29:48, with Sharp completing the podium in 29:50. The trio also picked up the British 10k Championships gold, silver and bronze medals.

Allen described duking it out with the six-time world champion as a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience and added: “It was awesome. It’s not often you get to run side by side with Mo Farah through the streets of London.

“It was an absolute pleasure. We were both at the front with two kilometres to go and Mo said ‘We’ve made a gap, see if you can run alongside me’ but he was running so fast I couldn’t hang on. It was an amazing experience.”

Farah added: “I think it’s important to help these runners out and encourage them. Everyone is inspired by someone; I was inspired by someone, so it was nice to be able to run alongside them and talk to them, to share a story, share what you have gone through.”

Callum Hawkins returned to compete in his first race since collapsing in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games and battled hard to cross the line in 31:27.

Fellow Scot Twell had a memorable race in the UK capital delivering a great performance to win the women’s event over the more experienced road runner Gemma Steel and defending champion Jo Pavey, who was racing for the first time competitively this year.

Photo: Vitality London 10,000

The Aldershot athlete’s last race over 10km on the road was in 2015, but she looked right at home and came within six seconds of her personal best. Twell’s 32:34 clocking was the third fastest 10km road time of the year by a British runner.

“The atmosphere out on the road was electric and everyone out on the course really got me round,” said Twell. “I took in everything, and coming up to St James’s Park I knew I had to finish strong in front of Buckingham Palace. I made sure I took it all in and just tried to keep my rhythm going.”

Twell finished 24 seconds ahead of Charnwood’s Steel, who looked back to herself with a good 33:00 performance, after a disappointing 33:29 last week in Manchester.

Former European 10,000m gold medalist Pavey completed the podium and British Championships medals in 33:12, while recent London marathoners Tracy Barlow and Lily Partridge finished fourth and fifth in 33:21 and 33:27 respectively.

Meanwhile, by 12:00 noon, more than 14,000 finishers had crossed the line, breaking the record for the total number of finishers for the event which stood at 12,400 from last year.

Top 10 men

1) Mo Farah, 29:44
2) Richard Allen, 29:48
3) Matt Sharp, 29:50
4) Mohamud Aadan, 29:58
5) Jonny Mellor, 30:04
6) Abdishakur Abdulle, 30:09
7) Ellis Cross, 30:13
8) Jack Gray, 30:17
9) Josh Griffiths, 30:20
10) Joshua Grace, 30:24

Top 10 women

1) Steph Twell, 32:34
2) Gemma Steel, 33:00
3) Jo Pavey, 33:12
4) Tracy Barlow, 33:21
5) Lily Partridge, 33:27
6) Rebecca Murray, 33:51
7) Sonia Samuels, 34:03
8) Hayley Carruthers, 34:05
9) Charlie Christiansen, 34:13
10) Georgina Schwiening, 34:21