Amsterdam, The Netherlands - The organisers of the 30th edition of the ING Amsterdam Marathon which takes place this Sunday, October 16, are hoping Haile Gebrselassie will do the same at the marathon distance, as he did over 10 Miles on September 4 at Tilburg: run the fastest ever time by a human.

On September 4 the Ethiopian distance running master ran the fastest ever clocking for 10 Miles (44:24). The race in the southern Dutch city was run in preparation for an even greater the task the ever smiling Ethiopian has set: bettering his personal best on the marathon. Three years ago in London, Gebrselassie ran his first serious marathon clocking 2:06:35.

Gebrselassie wants to run faster than that time and hopes to better the World record of 2:04:55 set by Paul Tergat of Kenya two years ago in Berlin. Even if he 'only' betters his personal best the Ethiopian will still be the fastest marathoner of the year 2005 so far. The barrier of 2:07:00 has yet to be taken this year. Felix Limo of Kenya clocked the fastest last Sunday in the Chicago Marathon with 2:07:02.

The course in the Dutch capital has proved to be very fast in recent years. In 2003 William Kipsang of Kenya clocked a winning time and course record of 2:06:39. Last year another Kenyan runner, Robert Cheboror, was even faster with 2:06:23.

Gebrselassie lines up with his running vest/bib different from the other elite runners: while everyone else will have a number, the peerless former two-time Olympic and four-time World 10,000m champion will be set apart visually as well, wearing a special number bib with just his first name "HAILE".

Renate Paradowska of Poland will be the fastest in the women's field with a personal best of 2:27:17.

The weather forecast for Sunday is good: sunny, a temperature around 14/15 degrees and a wind of 4 m/sec.