Mo Farah eyeing British 5k record at the Palace

He needs to beat the time of 13 minutes, 0.41 seconds set by David Moorcroft in July 1982 - nine months before Farah was born.

Farah, 26, has been in great form this year, winning the 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships in March and the 5,000m at the European Team Championship last month. He now has his sights firmly set on breaking Moorcroft's mark, even though it's almost seven seconds than his current personal best.

He said: "I'm really looking forward to Crystal Palace and trying to break the British record. The training is going really well, I've been training at altitude in St Moritz, and I'm definitely feeling better than I did last year.I want to get close to that 13 minute mark.

"I had a conversation with David Moorcroft last year and he said I could do it, so hopefully it will happen. It would be great to do it in London."

The Aviva Grand Prix, which also features triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt, serves as a final practice for the year's main athletics attraction, the World Championships, which start on August 15 in Berlin.

Farah will be aiming for a medal in the 5,000m, although he admitted it will be tough with a slew of world-class Africans taking part. He had a taste of how hard it will be when he finished well down the field in the 5,000m at the Bislett Games in Oslo on July 3, a race won by Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.

But despite finishing 11th, Farah's time of 13:12.28 was still the best set by a European this year, although he was far from pleased.

"That was disappointing," he said. "It was a hard race and I didn't perform as well as I could have but I'll definitely be ready for the Worlds.

"They will be difficult and it's hard to say who will be the main competition in Berlin because there will be so many good runners there. There's three Ethiopians, three Kenyans and guys like Bernard Lagat of America. It will be tough."

His international commitments mean Farah does not turn out too often for the Beagles these days, although he still keeps abreast of how the club is doing. And he has a particular reason to keep his base in the borough, with the 2012 Olympics in Stratford now just three years away.

He said: "The Olympics will be awesome in London. Obviously they only come around every four years, although I'm going to be taking each year as it comes until then. There won't be any extra pressure on me even though it's in London. I'm really looking forward to it."

Mo Farah is competing at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on July 24 and 25. For tickets visit uka.org.uk or call 0800 0556 056.