Seven years ago Jesus Espana produced a thrilling performance to win 5000m gold at the European Athletics Championships in Göteborg when he beat Mo Farah.
Now 35, Espana takes on a new challenge on Sunday as he makes his debut at the distance in the Great Scottish half-marathon in Glasgow.
It is very much a Spanish affair as he is joined by countryman Ayad Lamdassem while one of the favourites for the women’s race will be their teammate Alessandra Aguilar, who was fifth in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow in August.
Espana will long be remembered for that run in Sweden on a tremendous final afternoon of the 2006 Championships.
Farah led at the bell and with 200m to go, he was still in front with Espana back in third.
But as the Briton attempted to surge away, Espana edged closer and eventually overtook him with 50m left and held on to win in 13:44.70 from Farah in 13:44.79.
Espana and Lamdassem, the 2010 silver medallist at the European Athletics Cross Country Championships who has a half-marathon best of 1:01:29 from 2004, should be at the forefront of a race where Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie tops the billing.
Even at 40, Gebrselassie showed last month that he remains a force with his performance at the Great North Run in Newcastle where he finished third.
It is an exciting time for Glasgow with the countdown in full swung to the city hosting the Commonwealth Games in July.
And though there is no confirmation yet, everything is pointing towards the city hosting a Diamond League meeting next summer with reconstruction work starting on the Olympic Stadium in London.