HUNTING down members of his family in the USA has undermined Paul Tergat's hopes of delivering Britain's first sub 60-minute half marathon tomorrow.
The former world 10,000m champion, also world record-holder for tomorrow's distance, has 12 brothers and four sisters, many of them in New York and Washington.
He arrived for the Great North Run emotionally drained after two days of frantic phone calls to ascertain their well-being after the catastrophic events of Tuesday.
''It was a tense time for all of my family,'' said Tergat whose father, an influential figure, had three wives. ''Thankfully I was able to reassure them, after numerous telephone calls, everyone is OK.''
Tergat was pace-maker in 1994 when another Kenyan, Benson Masya, set the course record of 60:02 from Newcastle to South Shields. Now Tergat holds the world best at 59:17.
He faces Ethiopia's Olympic and world marathon champion, Gezahegne Abera, the double world cross-country champion Mohammed Mourhit of Belgium, two former world marathon champions, Spaniards Martin Fiz and Abel Anton, as well as Britain's Jon Brown,
Second on his marathon debut in London last April, and now preparing for his second, in Chicago next month, Tergat said: ''What is needed is a very quick pace for the first 10 miles.''
The women's field is also the best ever. It includes world 10k champion Derartu Tulu, Susan Chipkemei who holds the world best for the half, and Tegla
Loroupe and Joyce Chepchumba, fastest marathoners in open
and women-only marathons
respectively.
Tyneside warms up today with the BUPA Mile on the city's quayside. Noah Ngeny, Kenya's Olympic 1500m champion, is unlikely to be troubled by domestic opposition such as John Mayock and Tony Whiteman.
If the women's race is tactical,
however, 800m runner Kelly Holmes has quite enough pace to trouble 1997 world champion Carla Sacramento and Olympic bronze medallist Natyla Gorelova.
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