Sonia prepared for race of life to win Great North Run

That was the message that came through loud and clear yesterday when she addressed the assembled media in a pre-race press conference in South Shields dispelling any suggestion that she might be just using the event as a stepping stone to her New York Marathon debut on November 3.

It's true the Big Apple is always on her mind but, with her preparations at such an advanced stage, she knows that she has to perform here to maintain her confidence level, which is very high at the moment.

Victory tomorrow would send it sky high, as this has to be the strongest field ever assembled for the event and is a credit to the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, Peter Elliott, who has spared no expense in bringing some of the world's best athletes to Tyneside for what has become Britain's autumn classic.

When Sonia O'Sullivan won the event back in 1998 she was a lone figure battling her way along the windswept promenade to the finish.

That is unlikely to happen this year. The field will feature the first three from this year's world half marathon championship in Brussels Berhane Adere (Ethiopia), Susan Chepkemei (Kenya) and Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) and it should be remembered Sonia O'Sullivan who was battling her way back to fitness after the birth of her second daughter, Sophie, was back in 15th place that day.

Tomorrow, Chepkemei will go to the line as the defending champion and she will be joined by the 1999 winner, Joyce Chepchumba but an even more interesting entry is the double Olympic 10,000m champion, Derartu Tulu.

If the race stays together, then there could be some sprint finish between Adere, who proved one of the sensations of the Grand Prix circuit with victories over Gabriela Szabo, amongst others, and Sonia O'Sullivan who can kick with the best of them. Former world and Olympic champion, Fernanda Ribeiro (Portugal) may be struggling with the marathon but this distance is well within her range, the

teak-tough if ageing South African Elana Meyer won't be too far away and Liz Yelling from Bedford takes over the mantle of the leading UK woman in the absence of Chicago-bound Paula Radcliffe, who set the course record at 67 minutes 07 seconds last year will have plenty of home supporters.

"That's why I am not really thinking of fast times or setting myself any targets," Sonia O'Sullivan explained but admitted that she would like to run under 70 minutes. She won in 70:05 in 1998 and Catherina McKiernan holds the Irish record for the half marathon at 67:50.

"I've never run under 70 minutes for a half marathon but anything is possible," she added. "The competition is going to be tough out there and I will have a lot more people to worry about rather than looking at the clock and the time.

"I know the ups and downs of the course.

"The last time I ran this race I was not really prepared for it but this time I feel I am really well prepared and I am in really good shape.

"At some stage I'm sure some one will take off and then the race will be on. That's what I am looking forward to." She was obviously thinking about Adere, the world champion, or Chepkemei, the world's fastest half marathon runner-ever, who are unlikely to wait around for a sprint finish with

O'Sullivan and Tulu.

She recalled how, while jogging around Central Park before this year's Women's Mini Marathon, the prospects of a run in the New York Marathon crossed her mind.

She decided to put it out of her mind until after the European championships lest it become a distraction but, soon after Munich, she put it to her coach, Alan Storey, and the preparations began.

The success of those preparations were highlighted in the BUPA Great South Run when she set a world record for 10 miles at 51 minutes. "I suppose the BUPA Great North Run is my next step in my plans for the marathon," she said. "I've got some hard training under my belt and I can say I have never felt fitter although I have eased down in my training this week."

Since Benson Masya ran 60:02 in 1994 the organisers of the BUPA Great North Run have been hoping for their first sub 60 minute half marathon and, with conditions as they are, tomorrow could be the day.

Peter Elliott hs brought in the world half marathon champion, Paul Kogei, former European marathon champion, Stefano Baldini and three times London winner, Antonio Pinto, in the hope that the one hour barrier can be broken. The festivities begin today when the highlights will be the men's and women's Great North Miles and Ireland will be represented in the women's event by Geraldine Hendricken whose best 1,500m times have come down by more than 12 seconds this season.

She won the mile on the track in Liege and was third in the 1,500m at the Grand Prix final in Paris and , last weekend, she won the Ro-Jack's 5 miles in Massachusetts.

Today, she will renew rivalry with the sensational new European champion over 1,500m, Sureyya Ayhan (Turkey) in a field that also includes Kelly Holmes, Tatyana Tomashova (Russia) and Martha Dominguez (Spain) who pipped Sonia O'Sullivan for the 5,000m title in Munich.