US athlete set for Scots debut in Great Edinburgh Run

For the former London Marathon winner and 2004 Olympic bronze medallist, the short flight from London provided a routine end to a highly-eventful journey from her home in the Californian mountains.

"We had a six-hour drive to LA, then there was a medical emergency on board the plane to England, so we had to land and spend two and a half hours on the ground in Maine," she explained. "It made a long journey even longer."

Husband Andrew, who also tackles Sunday's 10km run, added: "A lady was handcuffed in the back after she got the incorrect mixture of sleeping pills and alcohol."

Despite her long and distinguished career, Kastor has never competed in Scotland, but her first impressions were positive: "There's still some snow at home, so stepping off the plane here it felt warm and beautiful to us. We're very excited to go and see the historic part of town."

But first and foremost, the multiple US record-holder is here to continue her comeback from the broken foot which wrecked her Olympic dreams in Beijing last August. As TV cameras zoomed in, one of the pre-Games favourites was forced to drop out when the injury struck without warning after barely three miles.

"I'd never been side-swiped like that before," she recalled. "It was bad timing, although there's never a good time to splinter a bone in your foot."

Kastor was unable to run for three months and only recently returned to action in an 8km race in Chicago.

"It was a good lesson in patience, which I learned I don't have!" she laughed.

"I have a great support team and I've been very cautious with my recovery. I didn't want to have any setbacks, so I was very conservative, and it's paid off.

"I'm excited to be back on the racing circuit and I want to challenge myself fitness-wise. I really love road races because you can stand on the starting line with local citizens."

After Sunday, she plans more road races this summer and an autumn marathon in Berlin, Chicago or New York. The world championships in Germany in August are not in her plans, but the London Olympics most definitely are.

Kastor will be 39 then, one year older than Paula Radcliffe who also succumbed to injury in Beijing. "I had a bad Sydney, a great Athens, then a poor Beijing, so I'm looking for a great London in 2012," Kastor said.

In the men's event, Kenyan Bernard Kipyego returns to defend the title he won 12 months ago in a sprint finish in the Meadows.

This year, the race begins and ends on George IV Bridge, but the 22-year-old is sure to be a serious contender again after his stunning half marathon debut in Berlin last month.

Kipyego covered the 13 miles in just under an hour and admitted yesterday: "I expected to run quick but not that quick. The course was so good and I was in such good shape that I was able to run that time. They gave me a big glass of beer after I won."

The keen Manchester United fan had just arrived from France where he finished second in an 8.8km race, and he was eager to discuss Wednesday night's Champions League victory over Arsenal.

Tanzania's Commonwealth marathon gold medallist Samson Ramadhani and Spain's former European track champion Jose Manuel Martinez would grace any 10km race in the world, but Kipyego's main opposition on Sunday will almost certainly come from his compatriot Micah Kogo.

The Olympic bronze medallist is the sixth-fastest runner in history over the distance and relishes competing in Britain after training in Teddington and winning the 2007 Great Manchester Run.

The two Kenyans have been friends for six years, and Kogo's form could not be better, having smashed Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie's world road best in Holland in late-March.

"I feel so proud," said the man from the village of Burnt Forest. "I was well-prepared and knew I could do it at 5km, so I pushed hard for the last 5km."

The hilly course plus Edinburgh's inclement conditions should prevent anyone approaching his new mark of 27 minutes one second, but Kogo promised: "It doesn't matter about the weather. We will try to do our best."

Olympic marathoners Jon Brown and Dan Robinson lead the British challenge on Sunday, while Edinburgh AC's Ryan O'Hare and University athletes Ben Cole, Mike Gillespie and Yujiro Iida get a rare opportunity to mix it with the world's best.

Kastor's main rivals include three-time winner Jelena Prokopcuka from Latvia, Kenyan Sally Barsosio, Hungary's Aniko Kalovics and Portugal's Jessica Augusto.

Jennifer McLean, Fiona Thompson and Edinburgh Half Marathon third-placer Niamh Devlin should ensure plenty of local interest.