The BUPA Great North Run is this weekend. Besides the huge half marathon field, the race weekend also features elite 3 kilometers through the streets of Tyneside. On the mens' side, Craig Mottram of Australia is racing there on Saturday, then flying to Berlin to pace Sonia O'Sullivan for 25 kilometers in the women's marathon in Berlin.
But this piece is about the dual at Tyneside: Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia versus Vivian Cheryuiot of Kenya....
Can Tirunesh Dibaba be defeated in a race? Well, it sure does not seem so. At the Osaka 10,000 meters, Dibaba was up against the ropes, so to speak. Having dropped off the back of the pack, for most of two kilometers, the field, in awe of her presense, ran her race and allowed her to catch up. Her patented sixty second last lap put the field out of its misery.
Vivian Cheryuiot possesses the second fastest women's 5,000 meters of all times, is the silver medalist at 5,000 meters from Osaka, and won the World Athletics Final at 5,000 meters in Stuttgart last week. She is as tough as they come and she has a strong kick-but can she race against Dibaba?
Over the perfect meeting distance of 3,000 meters, in Tyneside this coming weekend, the women's elite 3k should prove to be a barn burner, as Dibaba and Cheryuiot will duke it out over 3,000 meters of macadam. Is Dibaba recovered from her stomach problems from Osaka? Is Cheryuiot tired from all the racing the past three months? We shall see Saturday, September 29!
For the related story on the IAAF website, please click: http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=41873.html
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