FARAH AND NDEREBA LEAD GREAT SOUTH RUN FIELDS
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

International medallists Mo Farah of Great Britain and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya lead the fields for the Bupa Great South Run, Britain's most prestigious ten mile road race.  The event is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 25, and the point-to-point course stretches from Southsea to Portsmouth.

Farah, 26, this year's European indoor 3000m champion, will be making his debut at the 10 mile distance.  He already holds two British road racing records: 13:30 for 5 km and 27:50 for 10 km.  The independent Association of Road Racing Statisticians lists the British 10 mile road record as 46:02 by Richard Nerurkar set in Twickenham, England, back in 1993.

Ndereba, 37, has twice won the world marathon title and has two Olympic silver medals at that distance.  A versatile road racer, she ran 54:27 for ten miles earlier this year at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C.

Other top challengers for the men's title are 2007 IAAF World Championships Marathon champion, Luke Kibet of Kenya; national half-marathon record holder, Martin Fagan of Ireland; and the 8th place finisher from last weekend's IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, Stephen Mokoka of South Africa.

Ndereba's main rival should be rising Portuguese star, Ana Dulce Felix, who ran 69:48 at the recent Bupa Great North Run half-marathon, and her teammate Ines Monteiro, 10th in the 2009 IAAF World Championships 10,000m.  Australian Benita Willis and South African Rene Kalmer should also contend for the podium.

The course records at this race are very solid: 45:56 by the late Kenyan ace Benson Masya and 51-flat by Irish legend Sonia O'Sullivan.

ENDS