MELBOURNE, Australia � Marathon champions Haile Gebrselassie and Catherine Ndereba are going to race in the inaugural Great Australian Run.

Also registered in the 15-kilometer race Sunday is Olympic champion Constantina Dita of Romania, and Benita Johnson, Australia's best female distance runner.

Gebrselassie, the 10,000-meters champion at the Sydney Olympics, became the first person to run a marathon in under 2 hours, 4 minutes with his 2:03.59 in Berlin in September.

The Ethiopian star says he believes he can still lower his marathon record, but was more conservative about what to expect over the shorter distance on Sunday.

"It depends on the weather, the other athletes, we will see," Gebrselassie said. "I'm OK. After Berlin I went home and took some days off. Of course Sunday will be very challenging because it is 15k and it is a fast race."

Ndereba, of Kenya, is the world marathon champion and a silver medalist in the event at the Beijing Games.

The race through the streets of Melbourne has also attracted more than 4,000 recreational runners.