Britain’s double Olympic champion Mo Farah served up a fitting finale to the British Athletics Grand Prix at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena.
Farah returned from a training spell in Kenya to a rapturous reception, easing his way to a comfortable seven minutes and 42.00 seconds victory over 3,000m, his only indoor race this winter season.
Content to sit at the back of the field for the opening laps the 29-year old upped the pace following the one kilometre mark to pull effortlessly away from eventual runner-up Florian Carvalho (France).
Recent UK 1,500m silver medallist Lee Emanuel was third.
Pitreavie athlete Eilidh Child revised the Scottish indoor 400m record for the third time this winter season placing third in 51.50 seconds inside the 52.06 recorded in her semi-final at the UK Championships at Sheffield the previous weekend en route to taking the UK title in the final.
Child battled alongside fellow GB 400m hurdler Perri Shakes-Drayton as the USA’s Natasha Hastings set a fast pace from the start finishing in a 2013 world leading time of 50.88 seconds.
The two GB athletes battled all the way to the finish line a couple of strides down on the American athlete, with Shakes-Drayton clocking a personal best of 51.37, a fraction ahead of Child’s personal best 51.50.
The prospects for the forthcoming European Championships in Gothenburg look good with Shakes-Drayton and Child going second and third respectively in the European rankings behind Kseniya Ustalova’s (Russia) 51.31.
There was also a personal best for Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill) competing over 3,000m to place fourth in eight minutes 53.17 seconds third on the Scottish all-time list.
The Dundee University student finished well inside her 2012 outdoor best of 8:58.83 having just returned from intensive altitude training in Iten, Kenya, ten days ago.
The 2011 European indoor champion Helen Clitheroe pulled away to victory over the final two laps, timed at 8:50.16, ahead of Lauren Howarth’s.
Emily Stewart (Edinburgh AC) recorded a personal best 8:59.38 in finishing seventh.
Liverpool’s Michael Rimmer won a scrappy 800m as two-time World indoor champion, Abubaker Kaki of Sudan, crashed to the track as he stumbled over the line.
Lasswade’s Guy Learmonth clocked a personal best 1:47.41 as he finished fifth.
A welcome boost for UK men’s 400m running came as newly-crowned indoor champion Nigel Levine defeated Olympic bronze medallist Lalonde Gordon.
European indoor gold medallist and World outdoor bronze medallist, Jenny Meadows, contesting her first race in 18 months following a lengthy period of injury, finished second in the 800m.
European silver medallist Lynsey Sharp (Edinburgh AC) was third as she clocked a personal best 2:03.07, inside the European Championship qualifying standard.
The field events saw pole vault world-leader Holly Bleasdale clear 4.70m to claim victory on count-back ahead of Olympic silver medallist Yarisley Silva (Cuba).
Another GB victory came as Shara Proctor improved every round to win the women’s long jump, while Olympic high-jump bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz finished second behind Russia’s Aleksey Dmitrik. Perthshire athlete Allan Smith placed eighth equal with 2.15m.