Glasgow will welcome the strongest field ever for the Resolution Asset Management women-only 10k tomorrow.

The 16th edition of the race marks the first appearance of a trio of Eritreans who ran the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh seven weeks ago, and have since sought political asylum.

Though male compatriots swept the first three places in the Troon 10k, the three from the Horn of Africa are unlikely to repeat that.

They have been given elite entries by athletics development officer Brian Donaldson, who, despite the loss of Hilda Kibet (world's fastest 10k runner this year) still has assembled a remarkable field on a shoestring budget. Kibet, cousin of seven-times winner Lornah Kiplagat, and a former runner-up, has malaria.

Kibet's Kenyan compatriot, defending champion Vivian Cheruiyot, won world 5000m track silver in Osaka last year, yet may have to go faster than her winning 32:08 last year. She is joined in a field expected to number 13,000, by three more Kenyans: Lucy Kabuu, who won 10k gold and 5000m silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Magdalen Mukunzi (31:45 for 10k on the track) and Pauline Wangui (a 10k road best of 32:09).

Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) has run 31:34, while fellow country-woman Tiruwork Mekonen boasts a half marathon in 73:34. This was at Egmont, where eight kilometres are on sand. This, and the fact that she trains in a squad which includes world champions Gete Wami and Kenenisa Bekele, makes her a formidable opponent.

The elite domestic Scottish presence is thin, and Susan Partridge, a top-10 regular, may still feel the London Marathon in her legs. Entries will be accepted until 6pm tonight at Hall 1 of the SECC.