March 03, 2010 | AFP

LONDON — Ethiopian distance great Haile Gebrselassie will chase a third victory in the Great Manchester Run after confirming Wednesday his entry for the 10 kilometre race on May 16.

Gebrselassie came close to bettering the world record for the distance, currently held by Kenya's Micah Kogo in a time of 27 minutes and one second, in 2009 after surging to the front at the halfway point in 13:31.

But a strong headwind in the second five kilometres forced him to slow down severely and he finished in 27:39.

Gebrselassie, who set a then UK All-Comers's record of 27:25 seconds on his first Manchester appearance in 2005, said: "I have always stressed how important it is to have perfect weather conditions in record attempts - last year I was in perfect shape to do so but the wind made it an impossible task.

He added: "I will of course come to Manchester again open minded about what I can achieve - I never say 'yes' or 'no' about what times I can run.

"But Manchester is a very fast course and one which I like very much and obviously I want to produce something special when trying for a third win."