Haile Heads For Birmingham

18 OCT2011

Former world record holder Haile Gebreselassie has confirmed he will participate in this Sunday's (October 23) Bupa Great Birmingham Run. The news of Gebreselassie's decision will add extra excitement to the restructured event that is expected to attract around 15,000 runners.

The double Olympic champion, 38 recently saw his world marathon record broken by Patrick Makau in Berlin as the Ethiopian failed to finish after suffering from stomach problems. Makau went on to beat his record by 21 seconds.

Gebreselassie's participation comes as the athlete recently confirmed he still hopes to compete in the Olympic games. Race organiser Brendan Fraser was clearly elated to be able to attract a runner of such calibre, commenting: "To bring the greatest runner of all time, Haile Gebreselassie, to one of the biggest cities in the UK for the first staging of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run will be fantastic."

The city of Birmingham is no stranger to the Ethiopian's prestige with Gebreselassie breaking world records in the 2k, two mile, and 5000m events at the National Indoor Arena. On his return to the city, Fraser continued: "He is the number one guy in our sport and to have him running in a city where he's set world records in the past is fantastic and it would be great to see him win the race."

While this year's race will be similar to previous events, the start and finish areas have been modified to improve the overall experience for runners. The scenic course takes in many well-known city landmarks including Edgbaston cricket ground, Cannon Hill Park, and Cadburys World.

Live coverage of the event will be televised on Channel 5. Entry for this year's race has already closed with the race capacity of 15,000 reached at the beginning of the month.