THE Olympic marathon and world cross country champions will compete in this year's Bupa Great North Run, which has attracted 47,000 entries.

Olympic marathon champion Gezahegne Abera and double world cross country gold medallist Mohammed Mourhit will turn out on Sunday, September 16, in a field which will include half-marathon champions Khalid Khannouchi, from the US, and Kenyan Paul Tergat.

With these world class runners taking part hopes are high that this year the one hour barrier can be broken for the half- marathon distance for the first time in this country.

At present, the UK record is held by Bwenson Masya, from Kenya, who completed the 13.1- mile Newcastle to South Shields course in one hour and two seconds, seven years ago.

Abera, 23, from Ethiopia, surprised the world when he won the Olympic marathon title in Sydney last year by a margin of 20 seconds, particularly since he fell after 17km, injuring his knee.

Moroccan-born Mourhit, 30, who was granted Belgian citizenship in 1997, showed his all-round ability in March when he retained his world cross country crown. He is also holder of the European 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m records.

Peter Elliott, who recruited the two champions for the race, said that Mourhit could be a strong challenger for victory. He was also delighted to get Abera into the field.

He hoped that more elite runners would be attracted to the field.