Thompson ‘frustrated and disappointed’ with Great South Run title defence as Marc Scott wins for the first time

The 38-year-old was aiming to become the first man to win four races - only himself and fellow Brit Gary Staines had ever won three.

Thompson was also aiming for his fourth successive triumph, but that never looked a reality and he trailed in 12th - well behind first-time winner Marc Scott.

‘I know all good things must come to an end, but if I didn’t win I wanted to put up a better display than I did,’ said Thompson.

‘Normally I take the race by the scruff of the neck around the seven-mile mark, but today it took me by the scruff of the neck and I didn’t have any answers.’

He added: ‘I know when I’ve retired I will look back on this race with a lot of fondness, having won it three times.

‘But at the moment I’m feeling a bit sore that I didn’t put up a better defence.’

Thompson was the oldest man in the elite field, and is 13 years older than winner Scott and 11 years older than runner-up Ben Connor.

‘It’s not an excuse, but I am 38 years old and at that age there’s not so much middle ground - you can have great days and bad days. Today I had a bad day.

‘I felt confident at the start, but it was a very strong field and it asked a lot of questions I couldn’t answer. I tried a few of my tricks to try and keep up, but none of them worked.’

Scott, running 10 miles for the first time ever, clocked 46:57 after pushing ahead in the final four miles to win.

British 10,000m champion Connor, who clocked 47:16, was second and Emile Cairess third in a new British under-23 10-mile record of 47:32 - 18 seconds faster than the previous best.

I didn’t have a race plan at all, I just wanted to win,’ declared Scott, who represented GB at the 5000m at the 2017 World Championships. ‘I wasn’t worried about the time at all - I could have run 20 or 30 seconds faster or 20 or 30 seconds slower, it wouldn’t have mattered.

‘Today was all about winning.’