Veteran Catherina McKiernan back to her best form

World 1,500 metre finalist Jo Pavey and four-time cross-country runner-up Catherina McKiernan will head a class field in the Belfast Reebok Cross Challenge at Stormont on 10 January.

McKiernan has suffered from injury of late, but the 34-year-old veteran Irish marathon record holder, is returning to her old form.

Pavey, meanwhile, faces a hectic cross-country schedule with three races in the space of a month.

Pavey starts her campaign at the European Championships in Edinburgh on 14 December, then takes on IAAF world cross-country short course title holder Edith Masai in Newcastle on 3 January.

In the men's event local champion Dermot Donnelly will face a tough challenge from Belgrave's Andrew Graffin who took this year's AAA's 5,000 title.

Donnelly is an eight-time NI cross-country champion and recently won the Joe Seeley 10K road race for the ninth time.