WORLD MARATHON MAJORS CHAMPION IRINA MIKITENKO SIGNS UP FOR BUPA 30TH GREAT NORTH RUN

Two-time World Marathon Majors (WMM) champion, Irina Mikitenko, has signed up for what will be a testing challenge in the Bupa 30th Great North Run, which takes place on 19 September.

The appearance of the German star will see her join a world class field challenging for the world's biggest half marathon title. Mikitenko, who switched nationality from Kazakhstan to Germany in 1998 and has a personal best half marathon performance of 68 minutes 51 seconds, has the credentials to score a victory. She is now fully fit after a series of injuries which prevented her challenging for the World Championships gold medal on home soil in Berlin a year ago. She will join a stellar field for the 30th anniversary celebration of the race, which has attracted a field of 54,000. Mikitenko’s appearance will see her take on Ethiopia's Berhane Adere, a former world half marathon champion and former Bupa Great North Run winner, plus the reigning title holder, Jessica Augusto of Portugal. "Mara Yamauchi will also be taking part and no doubt she will be thirsty to score a home victory in what looks like a very open race," said Andy Caine, the event's elite athlete’s manager. "You could say Mara has a score to settle with Mikitenko having lost to her in last year's London Marathon, and I'm sure she'll be looking to take a revenge win. "But Mikitenko comes from a track background. She may now be established as a marathon runner but there's still plenty of speed in her legs which is always an advantage in the closing stages of a half marathon. "But the others cannot be ruled out. Adere is an experienced campaigner over the distance while Augusto is a vastly improved athlete since winning the race in 2009." The Bupa Great North Run men's race will feature a very high profile clash between two of the world's greatest-ever distance runners, Haile Gebrselassie and Martin Lel. Gebrselassie of Ethiopia will be making his debut over the Newcastle to South Shields course, while Kenya's Lel will be chasing a third success and defending his current title. The USA's World Half Marathon bronze medallist Dathan Ritzenhein, now a much more experienced half marathon runner, will be eager to improve on his third place when making his debut over the distance at the meeting in 2006, while Martin Fagan is expected to carry Irish hopes. Ends For further information: nicola.hedley@nova-international.com 0191 2263231 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

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