A year ago Mo Farah produced a fantastic finish in the Great North Run but still could not catch Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele. Now the British star is ready to go one better and win a race which is set to reach quite a landmark on Sunday.
Farah, fresh from his outstanding 5000m and 10,000m double at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, tops the bill in the half-marathon from Newcastle to South Shields.
It is a run where, from among the expected 50,000 starters, one of the athletes will become the one-millionth finisher in an event which was first staged in 1981.
It has not been revealed how many have crossed the line so far to keep up the excitement of who will have that 'million' honour in a run which was launched by Brendan Foster, the 1974 European 5000m champion.
Foster, chairman of the race organisers Nova International, will be in the BBC commentary box on Sunday and will be calling home the first British winner since 1985?
Farah hopes so, particularly after his battling effort to be second last year.
Bekele is not competing this time but Stephen Kiprotich, the Olympic marathon champion from Uganda, is and will be a tough opponent.
But Farah aims to complete another great few weeks in style and, speaking to the BBC, said: 'Bekele had the edge over me last year but this time I am going out to try to win. Last year was a great race and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully it should be exciting and I am happy to have home support.
'To come away with two golds (in Zurich) was a great achievement for me in what has been an up and down season.'
After making his debut over 26.2 miles in the London Marathon in April where he finished eighth, Farah missed the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with illness but came back to triumph in Zurich.
He said: 'It took me a while to recover from the marathon and I was disappointed that I couldn't run in Glasgow but I just wasn't ready to compete.'