Hellen Obiri and Peres Jepchirchir will compete at the Great North Run in Newcastle

The reigning champion Hellen Obiri and Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will line up for the Great North Run in Newcastle on September 11. Hellen Obiri won last year’s edition with a time of 1:07:42. She has a personal best in the half marathon of 1:04:22 from February this year.

Peres Jepchirchir, who will be making her debut in this race, has a half marathon personal best of 1:05:06 from 2017. She won the 2016 and 2020 World Half Marathon Championships titles with times of 1:07:31 and 1:05:16. Peres Jepchirchir is also a former world record holder in the half marathon.

The Kenyan duo will face Ethiopia’s Hiwot Gebrekidan and Olympic 10,000m title holder Almaz Ayana, who have personal bests of 1:06:47 hours and 1:07:12 hours, respectively.