Athletics: Tulu's Manchester date

Britain's Pavey defends her crown

Last updated: 13th May 2008

Derartu Tulu

Tulu: runner-up in Madrid

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Ethiopia's former Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu has confirmed she will race in next weekend's Bupa Great Manchester Run.

Tulu is back in action after maternity leave and injury and will be one of several overseas stars lining up for the 10 kilometres road race.

She will be running only three weeks after the Madrid marathon, where she was runner-up, and, given her lengthy absence from competition, may find it tough to assert her authority against more in-form opponents.

Tulu joins world marathon champion Catherine Ndereba, who clocked an impressive 32min 44sec for second place over the distance in Newport, USA, on Saturday.

Ndereba's fellow Kenyans Rose Cheruiyot - runner-up in the recent Bupa Great Edinburgh Run - and former Flora London Marathon winner Margaret Okaya also compete.

Britain's defending champion Jo Pavey, who has just returned from an altitude training camp in South Africa, will also lock swords with Aniko Kalovics, the Hungarian she defeated by a second in a sprint finish last year.

Kalovics, who is thriving on a tough racing schedule, finished third in Edinburgh then on Saturday stepped up from 10km to 10 miles to place second in Berne in a time of 56min 44sec.