Faith Kipyegon will chase yet another world title – and could set her fourth world record of 2023 – at the inaugural World Road Running Championships.
The Kenyan, arguably the standout athlete of the year, will contest the women’s mile on Sunday in Riga, Latvia.
Global titles in the mile, 5km and half marathon will be contested at one road championships for the first time.
Great Britain has sent a team of 12 athletes including Big Half winners Calli Thackery and Jack Rowe.
Thackery is joined by Abbie Donnelly, Clara Evans and Samantha Harrison in the women’s half marathon, while Mahamed Mahamed and Jonny Mellor join Rowe in the men’s race.
Verity Ockenden will compete in the women’s 5km, with Scott Beattie and Tom Mortimer contesting the men’s event.
Sarah McDonald and Callum Elson are GB’s representatives over one mile.
All six elite races take place on Sunday, alongside mass-participation races over each of the three distances.
BBC Sport will bring you live coverage from 09:40 BST on BBC Red Button, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
World Athletics president Lord Coe said: “This is the first time we have staged an event that celebrates road running in all its guises, from the elite runners, to dedicated recreational runners, to runners who are just starting out, including the kids.
“With races over the mile, 5km and half marathon, this event showcases the great middle distance and endurance road runners of the world together for the first time, and features the primary entry points for a recreational runner’s journey.
“The great beauty of running is its accessibility and this event offers something for everyone, including plenty of inspiration for those who want to make running part of their lives.”
Competition for class act Kipyegon
Five world record holders will be in action among the 347 entered athletes, who represent 57 nations.
Two-time Olympic 1500m champion Kipyegon, winner of double world gold on the track in Budapest in August, has set world records over 1500m, the mile and 5,000m on the track in an unbeaten season.
The 29-year-old, whose 5,000m mark has since been broken by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, could add the road mile record to her list of achievements in 2023, having also won the Diamond League 1500m title in September.
American Nikki Hiltz set the inaugural mark for the women’s road mile at four minutes 27.97 seconds this month, after it became an official world record discipline on 1 September.
Kipyegon will come up against Ethiopia’s world 1500m silver medallist Diribe Welteji over the mile, along with Kenya’s world 3,000m steeplechase record holder Beatrice Chepkoech.
The men’s 5km features three of the four fastest men in history, with Ethiopia’s world record holder Berihu Aregawi facing compatriot Yomif Kejelcha and Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli.
Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir – Olympic marathon champion and women-only half marathon world record holder – and Uganda’s men’s record holder Jacob Kiplimo will both seek to defend their half marathon titles.
World Athletics Road Running Championships schedule
All times BST
09:50 – Women’s 5km (Verity Ockenden)
10:15 – Men’s 5km (Scott Beattie and Tom Mortimer)
11:00 – Women’s mile (Sarah McDonald)
11:10 – Men’s mile (Callum Elson)
11:30 – Women’s half marathon (Calli Thackery, Abbie Donnelly, Clara Evans, Samantha Harrison)
12:15 – Men’s half marathon (Jack Rowe, Mahamed Mahamed, Jonny Mellor)
