Haile Gebrselassie goes head-to-head with Martin Lel at the 30th edition of the Bupa Great North Run
THE 30th anniversary of the Bupa Great North Run will be marked by a compelling contest between two all-time greats of long-distance running.
World marathon record-holder Haile Gebrselassie will make his long-awaited debut on this course, where he will go head-to-head with the defending champion Martin Lel from Kenya.
Gebrselassie was set to make his debut at the Great North Run in 2000 but the Ethiopian was forced to withdraw as he aggravated an Achilles injury en route to a successful defence of his Olympic 10,000m title in Sydney.
A decade later, Gebrselassie will finally compete at this IAAF Gold Label event, renowned as one of the world’s leading half-marathons.
"It's a dream come true for the 30th staging of the Bupa Great North Run," said Great North Run founder Brendan Foster.
Gebrselassie has compiled a fine record at this distance, starting with a gold medal at the 2001 World Half-Marathon Championships in Bristol. In total, Gebrselassie has won nine of his ten races at the half-marathon and has ducked under the one-hour mark on five occasions.
While Gebrselassie and Lel haven’t met over the half-marathon distance in their careers, the leading protagonists are very evenly matched as Lel’s half-marathon record reads very similarly to Gebrselassie’s.
Like Haile, Lel is a former world half-marathon champion, has dipped under the one-hour mark five times, and has notched up nine career victories at the distance.
While Lel hasn’t been in his very best shape due to a shin injury this year, the Kenyan does has the advantage of knowing the course.
In 2007, Lel outsprinted Sammy Wanjiru, 60:10 to 60:18, and the 31-year-old regained his title last year, clocking the second fastest ever time on this course of 59:32.
Dathan Ritzenhein finished third on his half-marathon debut in 2006 and while the American has perhaps been overshadowed by the achievements of his compatriots, Ritzenhein is a definite candidate for his second podium finish.
The 27-year-old has competed very sparingly this season but Ritzenhein made significant improvements last year, finishing sixth over 10,000m at the World Championships and third at the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham in a PB of 60:00.
Jose Manuel Martinez braved the heat in Barcelona to win the silver medal in the marathon and the veteran Spaniard should be at the forefront of the European challenge in this race, along with Luis Feiteira from Portugal, who was tenth in the marathon at last year’s World Championships.
Andrew Lemoncello made a sound debut at this year’s Virgin London Marathon finishing eighth in 2:13:40, which suggests the Scot is capable of improving his half-marathon PB of 63:03.
Other leading domestic contenders include Lee Merrien, who finished a very creditable eighth at the European Championships, as well as Phil Wicks and Andi Jones.
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