Joseph set for Belfast run

Fabian Joseph, the teenage silver medallist in last year’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, will compete at the Belfast International Cross Country on Saturday.

The Tanzania runner was only 17 when losing out on the coveted title by only three seconds in Vilamoura last autumn.

Since then, Joseph has been displaying consistent form in cross-country races on the Continent, which should make him a threat at the Stormont Castle venue this weekend.

Former champion Daniel Gachara, winner of the IAAF Permit meeting three years ago and runner-up 12 months later, is also returning.

Gachara is a late replacement for Julius Kibet, his fellow Kenyan who has been refused a visa to travel to Northern Ireland.

The presence of the pair will prove a tough test for Paul Tergat.

But Kenya’s five-times world cross country champion is determined to make amends for his third place finish last Saturday in Newcastle’s View From Great North Cross Country.