Great North Run 2013 weekend rivals Christine Ohuruogu and Natasha Hastings competed at the Van Damme Memorial meeting in Brussels on Friday, with the American coming out on top.
The pair are among several world class athletes who will be competing in the Great North City Games, which kicks off the Great North Run events on September 14. But with a week to go before the Great North Run, Christine Ohuruogu was behind the pace to finish fifth in the 400m event at the Van Damme Memorial meeting yesterday, which is the finale of the Diamond League.
The women’s 400m winner was Natasha Hastings, the American who Christine Ohuruogu will be taking on in the 150m event at the Great North Run Great North City Games. Hastings won in 50.36, beating Botswana’s Montsho by 0.05sec.
Christine Ohuruogu is the World 400m champion and also won last month, beating Amantle Montsho. But in Brussels, she finished in 50.95.
There will be several big names at the Great North Run weekend, with Ethiopian stars Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele taking on Olympic hero Mo Farah in the Bupa half marathon on Sunday. Famous Japanese runner Yuki Kawauchi, the ‘citizen runner’, is also taking part.
