Ireland's Catriona McKiernan has withdrawn ill from next week's Great North Cross Country race in Newcastle, England.
Meanwhile, a Christmas Day telephone call has resulted in reigning IAAF World Cross Country long course champion Worknesh Kidane taking part in the January 3 event. The call was made by Great North race director Peter Elliott following defending champion Edith Masai's decision to pull out injured.
An awesome men's field will be led by Kenya's five-times World Cross Country gold medallist Paul Tergat, who opened his season when outsprinting his rivals for an easy victory in Brussels last Sunday.
Filed by James Boylan
