Priscah Jeptoo Uses Mid-Race 4:34 Mile and 30:03 10k To Show She’s Queen of The Roads and Defeat Defar and Dibaba
Defar and Dibaba Settle For Personal Bests at 2013 BUPA Great North Run
Men’s Race Recap: LRC Kenenisa Bekele Holds Off Mo Farah In One Of The Most Thrilling Road Races In History
By LetsRun.com
September 15, 2013
The women’s race at the 2013 Bupa Great North Run was hyped as the second clash of the year between the two multi-time gold medallists and long-time rivals from Ethiopia Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba.
Defar and Dibaba, who won the 5000 and 10,000 in Moscow and London the last two years, may be the queens of the track but there was another woman in the field today who is the queen of the road.
In today’s era, if you are the London Marathon champion, you are usually the best road runner on the planet. Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo, who won London this spring in 2:20:15 after getting the silver medal in the Olympics last year, certainly proved that to be true today as she took the lead at 13km and then used a sensational 4:34 10th mile to finish off Defar and Dibaba en route to a 65:45 winning time, the third fastest 13.1 mile race ever run by a woman – just 5 seconds off the record of 65:40 that Paula Radcliffe ran in this race in 2003.
Priscah Jeptoo wins
Defar ended up second in 66:09, the fastest time ever run by an Ethiopian (previous record was 66:56 by Meseret Hailu at the RAK Half in February), much faster than her previous best of 67:25. Dibaba was third in a personal best of 66:56.
Quick takes, results and race photos appear below.
Quick Take #1: Take a look at the course map and you’ll see the course is point to point a net downhill so it’s not record eligible, but even if she was running downhill and downwind Jeptoo was TRULY SENSATIONAL today.
Her official 5km splits were as follows:
5k time 16:22
10k time 32:25
15k time 47:28
Finish 65:45
Yes, you are reading that. Her 5ks went 16:22, 16:03, 15:03. A 15:03 in the middle of a half marathon. If you think that’s impressive, well we’ve got a better stat for you.
The race doesn’t list an official 20km split but we’ve done the math. From 15km to the finish, Jeptoo took 18:17 to run 6.097494 kilometers, which is very impressive. That’s 14:59.5 5k pace.
So Jeptoo ran a 30:03 10k in the middle of a half-marathon and then tacked on an extra 1.097494 kilometers at sub 15:00 pace. Sick.
QT #2: The PBs of the top three before today.
Priscah Jeptoo – 66:11
Meseret Defar – 67:25
Tirunesh Dibaba – 67:35
Bupa Great North Run 2013 – Top 10 Women’s Results
| Pos | Gender | BIB | Name | Club | Finish Time | Gun/Chip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | 204 | PRISCAH JEPTOO | 01:05:45 |  |
|
| 2 | F | 202 | MESERET DEFAR | 01:06:09 | |
|
| 3 | F | 201 | TIRUNESH DIBABA | 01:06:56 | |
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| 4 | F | 207 | CHRISTELLE DAUNAY | 01:09:49 | |
|
| 5 | F | 210 | JELENA PROKOPCUKA | 01:10:14 | |
|
| 6 | F | 214 | MISAKI KATO | 01:10:44 | |
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| 7 | F | 206 | LISA STUBLIC | 01:13:00 | |
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| 8 | F | 213 | AYAKA HITOMI | 01:13:09 | |
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| 9 | F | 205 | JESSICA AUGUSTO | 01:13:51 | |
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| 10 | F | 231 | JILLY WOODTHORPE | Barnsley Athletic Club | 01:14:31 | |
Race photos below. Click on thumbnail for larger picture:
The big three early on
4:42 7th mile
Jeptoo and Defar were clear of Dibaba just after 9th mile
47 minutes in Defar is dropped
Priscah Jeptoo wins