The line-up has been unveiled for this year’s elite field at this year's AJ Bell Great North Run. There are several highlights, including British hopeful and 2021 Great North Run Champion, Marc Scott competing against Paris Olympics Silver medallist, Berihu Aregawi, of Ethiopia, and 2024 Boston Marathon Men’s Champion and 2021 London Marathon Winner, Sisay Lemma.

In the Women’s race four-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games Champion, Eilish McColgan will take on Great North Run Women’s Champion from 2016 and 2018, Vivian Cheruiyot. McColgan, Great Run series ambassador, said: “I am so excited to be taking part in the 2024 AJ Bell Great North Run on 8 September. I have incredible memories of competing in Newcastle and participating in the Junior Great North Run events over 20 years ago.

"We have a family history at the Great North Run, with Mum being a three-time winner, so this year’s event will be a special one for me to finally follow in my Mum’s footsteps, running the original route from Newcastle to South Shields.”

“Returning from this year’s Paris Olympics and on the road back from injury, I’m especially looking forward to the tens of thousands of spectators and supporters lining the streets, as well as the 60,000 runners taking part alongside me.”

A roster of British athletes will compete alongside some of the world’s best distance runners from the USA, Ethiopia, Kenya, Japan and Europe. Sir Brendan Foster, Founder of the Great North Run and President of The Great Run Company, said: “Our fantastic spectators are once again in for a great show of top athletics action at the front of this year’s Great North Run.

“It’s an honour for the North East to welcome world class athletes from across the globe, in a year where the Great North Run has been awarded the prestigious World Athletics Heritage Plaque, a recognition for its contribution to road running. It’s also an award for the people who help make the Great North Run so special and reflects how much the event means to so many people.”

Elite athletes will line up alongside 60,000 runners at the 43rd Great North Run on Sunday 8 September for the world’s biggest half marathon. The iconic course starts in Newcastle city centre and finishes 13.1 miles later in the coastal town of South Shields. Many runners will be taking part to support worthy causes, raising an estimated £25 million pounds for charity.

If you'd like to know more, visit the Great North Run website.

Image: Great Run Company