BRITAIN's top-long distance runners are set to gather at Woodside Stadium after the Watford athletics venue was named as the host track for this year's Norwich Union World trials and AAA 10,000m Championships.

The race, which takes place on Saturday July 5, will cement Woodside as one of the top tracks in the South of Britain, and a track which has the reputation of producing lightning fast times.

Star attraction will be fit again Karl Keska of Birchfield Harriers, who will be among a group of men chasing the World Championship qualifying time of 27.49.

Keska has been battling with injury but, after two warm-up races in the USA, he looks to be approaching the sort of form which saw him finish eighth in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and will relish a Woodside track which, since 2000, has seen the likes of Britain's Andres Jones, Rob Denmark and Mark Steinle all clock sub-28.05 times.

However, the athletes will find it tough. The qualifying time set for the World Championships in Paris is almost five seconds quicker than the winning time at the 2001 World Championships in Canada.

Other entries include Bob Kennedy of the USA and countryman Brad Hauser. Kennedy has already recorded a sub-13 time for the 5,000m this year while Hauser has a sub-27 minute best for the 10,000m.

Early entries for the womens race include Australia's Natalie Harvey and Russia's Alla Zhilyaeva, who was eighth in the 4km World Cross Country Championships.