German champ to star at Great North Run
Germany's two-time World Marathon Majors champion, Irina Mikitenko, is sure to be among the favourites for September 19's Bupa Great North Run.
Kazakhstan-born Mikitenko will take on Ethiopia's Berhane Adere, a former world half-marathon champion and former Great North Run winner, plus the reigning champion, Jessica Augusto of Portugal, and Britain's Mara Yamauchi.
Andy Caine, the event's elite athletes manager, said: "You could say Mara has a score to settle with Mikitenko having lost to her in last year's London Marathon, and I'm sure she'll be looking to take a revenge win.
"But Mikitenko comes from a track background. She may now be established as a marathon runner but there's still plenty of speed in her legs which is always an advantage in the closing stages of a half marathon.
"But the others cannot be ruled out. Adere is an experienced campaigner over the distance while Augusto is a vastly improved athlete since winning the race in 2009."
The men's race features a very high profile clash between two of the world's greatest-ever distance runners, Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Kenyan Martin Lel.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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