Tirunesh Dibaba aims to break the world 5,000 metres road race record at the Hydro Active Women's Challenge in Hyde Park, London on Sunday.

Tirunesh, the first athlete to achieve the World 5,000m and 10,000m track double at the Helsinki Championships earlier this month, aims to break the current mark of 14 minutes 51 seconds. Competing alongside Tirunesh will be Derartu Tulu, Ethiopia's 2000 Olympic Games 10,000m champion.

"This is very exciting, we welcome such a record attempt," said race director David Bedford, who strongly believes the record will be threatened on Sunday.

More than 22,000 women are expected to participate in the race, among which will be the Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport. In addition to the race in London, there will also be events in Birmingham and Liverpool which, it is estimated will raise more than £2.5million for charities.

The run is scheduled to start at 11:00am and the BBC’s Grandstand programme will be broadcasting highlights in the afternoon between 4.30 and 5.00pm on BBC2.  

Since competing in Carlsbad, California in April 2004, the 20-year-old Tirunesh has shared the World 5,000 metres road race record with the UK’s Paula Radcliffe. The Ethiopian athlete equalled the time Radcliffe achieved at the London venue two years ago.

ENDS