Mo Farah... big challenge.

Mo Farah admits he will face a baptism of fire when he makes his marathon debut on the streets of London against a field which in-cludes the world record holder, the Olympic and world champion, the defending champion and the course record holder.

The 30-year-old has been given anything but an easy ride by the organisers of the London Marathon for his first outing over 26.2 miles.

World record holder Wilson Kipsang, Olympic and world champion Stephen Kiprotich, reigning champion Tsegaye Kebede and course record holder Emmanuel Mutai will all be in the field on April 13.

The size of the task means victory, should he pull it off, would be arguably his greatest achievement yet, eclipsing his double London 2012 gold over 5,000 and 10,000 metres and his pair of long-distance world titles last summer.

Kenenisa Bekele is the only notable absentee, with the Ethiopian great, who beat Farah in a thrilling half-marathon race at the Great North Run in September, due to make his marathon debut in Paris on April 6 instead.

Farah ran half the London course during last year’s race to gain experience and claiming at the time he had “learned the biggest lesson of my life”, saying he had no problem with the pace but getting the drink stops right had been a challenge.

“I gained a lot of valuable experience running part of the course alongside the top guys last year and can’t wait to race over the full distance this April,” he said.

“I had another great year on the track in 2013, but the marathon is my main focus for this year.

“As a young boy growing up in London it has always been my ambition to run the London Marathon and to be able to make my marathon debut in my home town is very special.”