This archive report was first published on 6 September 2019.
On September 10, 2017, Mary Keitany made history by winning the women's elite race of the Great North Run half-marathon in South Shields, northeast England.
Fast forward to the present, Keitany and Brigid Kosgei are set to clash in the same event in Newcastle, United Kingdom, with both athletes seeking to prove their dominance in the women's elite race.
Keitany, the 37-year-old veteran, will be looking to prove she is no spent force, while Kosgei, the new girl on the block, will be seeking to assert her dominance in the half-marathon distance.
Keitany is preparing to defend her New York City Marathon title on November 3, while Kosgei will be putting her Chicago Marathon gold on the line on October 13.
"Another chance to gauge my preparations for the Chicago Marathon. I will be running in Newcastle," said Kosgei on Wednesday.
Keitany has a personal best of 64:55 for the half-marathon, while Kosgei clocked a best of 65:28 for the 13.1-mile distance earlier this year.
The Kenyan presence in Newcastle will be bolstered by Linet Masai, the 2009 world 10,000m champion, and her younger sister Magdalene.
The leading locals in the women's race at the Great North Run are Charlotte Purdue and Steph Twell.
In the men's race, Britain's Mo Farah will face opposition from Ethiopia's world marathon silver medalist Tamirat Tola, world fourth-placer Callum Hawkins, and training partner Bashir Abdi.
