GEBRSELASSIE WINS BUPA 30TH GREAT NORTH RUN ON DEBUT - ADERE ALSO TAKES WOMEN'S TITLE FOR ETHIOPIA

Hailie Gebrselassie not only honoured 10-year-old old promise made to race chairman Brendan Foster to compete some day but he also won the Bupa 30th Great North Run with a fabulous performance on Sunday.

The World’s greatest ever distance runner on a fantastic day for Ethiopia with Berhane Adere scoring a second Bupa Great North Run success, saw the superstar destroy the opposition with a rock solid victory on the half marathon trek from Newcastle to South Shields. Gebrselassie after a fast start which ignited even more when Jaouad Gharib dashed to the front and opened a 20 metres lead just after one mile, took control around halfway to romp to victory in an impressive time of 59 minutes 33 seconds. His surge at that point destroyed the ambitions of Kiplimo Kimutai and further back Gharib who repeated their second and third positions of last year when finishing in 61min 23sec and 62min dead. Gharib a former World Marathon gold medallist surprisingly jumped the field after a 4:39 opening mile dragging Gebrselassie, Kimutai and Dathan Ritzenhein who would place fourth in 62:25 clear of a big chasing pack. There was plenty of jostling between the quartet before Kimutai holder of the Kenyan One Hour record, put in a telling burst after three-and-a-half miles. Only Gebrselassie responded and the pair running confidently stayed together until the “Emperor” introduced a huge spurt between six and seven miles before romping off to add his name to the list of All-Time Greats who have triumphed in the Great North Run. "I wanted to go faster but at the beginning of the race I was a bit confused at what Gharib did," said Gebrselassie after winning the World's biggest half marathon event. "I thought he was trying to make a kind of a trick," he added after the Moroccan literally sprinted into a 10 metre lead before being hauled back. The Kenyan guy, he was good," he said of Kimutai who in the cool conditions was the only rival to offer any real challenge. Gebrselassie who should have debuted in the Bupa Great North Run after the 2000 Sydney Olympics but injured himself retaining his 10000m title, confessed he was delighted the promise he made to Foster had finally been achieved. "This is the Great North Run, it is so big and wonderful and it is good to be part of its history," said the 37-year-old who is getting ready for an autumn marathon. "It’s nice to have won over a historical course and a race which has been running for 30 years." Adere winner in 2005 also scored a dominant victory ahead of the Portuguese pair of Ana Dulce Felix and Marisa Barros in an impressive time of 68min 49sec. Before the first mile was completed, Adere, Felix who was third behind the second placed Ethiopian 12 months ago, Barros, her colleague Sara Moreira and British hope Mara Yamauchi had broken clear. They stayed together until eight miles when Felix pushed ahead accompanied by Adere and Barros, although the latter quickly drifted slightly off the pace. Adere and Felix fought a cat and mouse duel until the former World Half Marathon champion finally managed to get clear and motor quickly to another success with two miles of the race remaining. Felix chased hard to finish in 69min 01sec with Portuguese teammates Barros and Moreira following her home in 69min 09sec and 70min 08sec with Yamauchi fifth in 70min 39sec. “It was a good race to win and for a second time,” said 37-year-old Adere. “I was tested hard by Felix but finally managed to pull away. “I know the course well having ran here several times and always felt in control. But she did make it hard for me.” David Weir blazed to a fourth Bupa Great North Run wheelchair success when retaining his title in 44min 49sec ahead of Josh Cassidy (44:55) and Rafael Botello (47:23). Shelly Woods collected a third victory by a huge margin with a time of 52min 59sec. Francesca Porcellato runner up in 57min 09sec and Nikki Emmerson clocked 65:44 for third. Results Men 1, H Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 59:33 2, K Kimutai (Kenya) 61:23 3, J Gharib (Morocco) 62:00 4, D Ritzenhein (USA) 62:35 5, A Bouramdane (Morocco) 62:40 6, J Utriainen (Finland) 62:42 7, M Fagan (Ireland) 63:24 8, J-M Martinez (Spain) 63:26 9, A Lemoncello (GB) 63:48 10, P Wicks (GB) 64:09 Women 1, B Adere (Ethiopia) 68:49 2, A-D Felix (Portugal) 69:01 3, M Barros (Por) 69:09 4, S Moreira (Por) 70:08 5, M Yamauchi (GB) 70:39 6, A Aguilar (Spain) 73:20 7, L Damen (GB) 73:24 8, A Dixon (GB) 74:15 9, M McCambridge (Ireland) 74:32 10, R Robinson (GB) 75:02 Wheelchairs Men 1, D Weir (GB) 44:49 2, J Cassidy (Canada) 44:55 3, R Botello (Spain) 47:23 4, E van Dyk (South Africa) 47:35 5, B Alldis (GB) 47:46 6, M Telford (GB) 50:11 Women 1, S Woods (GB) 52:59 2, F Porcellato (Italy) 57:09 3, N Emmerson (GB) 65:44 Ends Editors notes Nova International The Bupa Great North Run is brought to you event organisers Nova International and is sponsored by Bupa. Nova International, headed by Olympic Medallist Brendan Foster is one of the UK’s leading event management and sports marketing agencies. The company’s current brand portfolio also includes some of the biggest running events in the world all based on the Great North Run, the world’s largest half marathon with over 54,000 entries. Nova International was established in 1988 and has a strong sporting pedigree. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nova have established themselves as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. For more information please visit www.greatrun.org. In The Long Run… 30 Years of the Great North Run Celebrating the 30th staging of the Bupa Great North Run, this major new exhibition explores this enormously popular event. In The Long Run… 30 Years of the Great North Run looks at the significant role this event has played in reflecting and shaping the region's cultural identity. As well as the well known stories of elite runners, In The Long Run will also explore the huge organisational effort behind the Bupa Great North Run, documenting the event’s community spirit and creating a powerful piece of social history. Alongside interactive exhibits, memorabilia and star objects, In The Long Run will present artwork from the archives of Bupa Great North Run Culture and new commissions will be presented by Sir Peter Blake and Claire Leona Apps. About Bupa Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing. Employing over 50,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. For more information, visit www.bupa.com