Two-time New York Half Marathon champion Abel Kipchumba has vowed to defend his Great North Run title when he lines up against a star-studded field on Sunday.
Kipchumba won the Great North Run Half-Marathon last year after cutting the tape in 59.52.
He led Britain's Marc Scott (1:01:11) and Norway's Sondre Nordstad Moen (1:01:25) to the podium.
The 31-year-old had thrown down the gauntlet, declaring his resolve to retain his crown.
"I am very happy to return to the Great North Run again this year. It was a great honour to win one of the biggest half Marathons in the world at my first attempt," Kipchumba told race organisers.
Kipchumba, however, acknowledged that this year's race is set to be highly competitive.
"I know I have tough competition this year, but I am ready for the challenge," he added.
Kipchumba heads into the race seeking his second half-marathon victory of the 2025 season.
He opened his season with a dominant showing in New York on March 16, stopping the clock in 59:09 to claim the crown.
On that occasion, Americans Conner Mantz (59:15) and Hillary Bor (59:55) completed the podium.
Kipchumba holds a vast resume over the half-marathon, which includes victories from Valencia (58:07) and Adizero Road to records (58:48) in 2021, as well as Napoli in 2018 (1:00:12).
He, however, faces stiff competition from 2024 London Marathon champion Alexander Munyao, who hopes to use the race as a build-up for his maiden appearance at the New York Marathon on November 2.
"I will be running the Great North Run in September, which I hope to use to gauge my form as well as sharpen up my speed and endurance.
It will act as a crucial buildup for New York," he added.
"The Great North Run also comes at a perfect time because it will be only two months till November. My results there will help me tune up my training," Munyao had told the Star earlier.
Munyao's accolades over 21km include victories from Santa Pola 2020 (59:09), Marugame 2025 (59:16) and 2023 (59:17), as well as Gifu in 2022 (59:56).
Adding firepower to the field is Olympic Marathon bronze medallist Bashir Abdi of Belgium. Abdi will be running his first race since the 2024 New York Marathon, where he placed ninth in 2:10:39.
Marc Scott, the 2022 World Indoor 3,000m bronze medallist, headlines the charge for the hosts.
In the women's field, reigning New York Marathon champion Sheila Chepkirui leads the charge, also hoping to sharpen her form ahead of her title defence on November 2.
Since kicking off her 2025 campaign, Chepkirui has posted a mixture of results. On March 9, she stopped the clock in 2:20:40 to win the Nagoya women's Marathon ahead of Japan's Sayaka Sato (2:20:59) and Bahraini Eunice Chumba (2:21:35).
In her most recent outing on June 22, however, Chepkirui fell short of a podium finish, clocking 32:17 to place seventh.
She will be joined by four-time World champion Vivian Cheruiyot to form a strong Kenyan charge.
Cheruiyot will be hoping for only her second podium finish of the season after her third-place finish from the Falmouth Road Race on August 17.
Adding more depth to the field are home favourite Eilish McColgan and Japan's Kaede Kawamura.
