Morgan Uceny’s Comeback Gets A Big Boost as She Wins 2013 Bupa Great North Road Mile; Garrett Heath Surprises in Men’s Side Over Asbel Kiprop
Leo Manzano Also Gets A Much Needed Strong Showing in Second
by Letsrun.com
September 14, 2013
The comeback of American miler Morgan Uceny, who is on the comeback trail from the heart-breaking disappointment of falling at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics, picked up a lot of momentum this afternoon as she won the Bupa Great North Road Mile at the 2013 Great North CityGames in Gateshead.
Uceny impressively won in 4:33.97 after aggressively moving to the front at the three-quarter mark and pulling away in the last 200. Laura Weightman was second in 4:34.63. In the process of winning, Uceny picked up some big nice scalps as the field included three finalists from the World Championships women’s 1500 in Moscow. Finishing behind Uceny was 2013 Moscow World championships bronze medallist Hellen Obiri (sixth 4:35.86), Moscow fourth placer Hannah England (third 4:35.12) as well as Moscow seventh placer Zoe Bucknam (11th 4:49.05). Also in the race today was 2013 steeplechase gold medallist Milcah Chemos (7th 4:36.66).
We unofficially had Uceny at 70 for the quarter-mile mark, 2:19 for the half-mile and 3:30 for three-quarters. We’ve embedded a video clip of the women’s race on the right in case you didn’t get up early to watch the first ever live international broadcast on USATF.tv.
Men’s Race
American Garrett Heath was the surprise winner of the men’s mile in 4:01.56 as 2013 World Champion Asbel Kiprop‘s post-Worlds struggle continued as he was just fifth in 4:07.15.
The runner-up in the men’s race in 4:01.79 was non-other than 2012 Olympic silver medallist Leo Manzano, who liked Uceny had really up until this point been experiencing a very disappointing 2013 campaign.
We have been unablet to find a men’s race video but the IAAF recap indicated Kiprop was up front until the kick for home:
With around 400 metres to go it looked like Kenya’s World champion Asbel Kiprop was in control, he had taken the lead early on with his fellow Kenyan Bethwel Birgen, but at the very end of the season it was clear that Kiprop’s famous finishing kick has been dulled and it was the USA’s Garrett Heath who took the lead with 250 metres to go and defended his advantage to the line.
Quick takes and results appear below.
LetsRun.com’s Quick Take #1: As we said in our weekly recap, Uceny looked much better than she had for most of the year in he 1k in Brussels and this result today confirms she’s finally coming around. A strong showing at the 5th Avenue mile next weekend and she’ll be really excited and motivated for a strong off-season.
QT #2: Is this the biggest win of his Heath’s career? A nice day for him and certainly surprising as he was just eighth at the Falmouth mile (3:58.29) in August but had run a strong 7:46 3000 in Rieti last week.
QT #3: This certainly was a huge turnaround for Manzano who had really been struggling. It’s hard to run worse than he had in his last four races since Worlds.
Leo’s Post Worlds Races
Time – Place – Location – Date
August 22nd – 11th in Stockholm – 3:42.47
August 29th – 14th in Zürich – 3:37.94 14
Sept 1 – 14th in Berlin – 3:42.04
Sept 8 – 13th in Rieti – 3:48.83
Sept 14th – 2nd in Gateshead – 4:01.79
QT #4: Speaking of running poorly after Worlds. Here’s Asbel Kiprop’s finishes since Worlds.
Asbel Kiprop Since Worlds
August 22nd – 6th in Stockholm in 3:35.49
August 29th – 6th in Zürich in 3:33.78
Sept. 14th – 5th in Gateshead 4:07.12
QT #5: Full Results appear below. If we find a men’s race video. We’ll try to add it later.
Discuss this race in our forum: Morgan UCeny is back baby!!! Garrett Heath and Leo Manzano over Asbel Kiprop – 2013 Bupa Great North Road Mile.
Womens Bupa Great North 1 Mile
| Pos | Name | Country/Club | Performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Uceny |  |
4:33.97 | ||
| 2 | Laura Weightman |  |
4:34.63 | ||
| 3 | Hannah England | |
4:35.12 | ||
| 4 | Emma Jackson | |
4:35.34 | ||
| 5 | Susan Kuijken |  |
4:35.81 | ||
| 6 | Hellen Obiri |  |
4:35.86 | ||
| 7 | Milcah Chemos | |
4:36.66 | ||
| 8 | Laura Crowe |  |
4:38.36 | ||
| 9 | Charlene Thomas | |
4:42.32 | ||
| 10 | Eilish McColgan | |
4:43.02 | ||
| 11 | Zoe Buckman |  |
4:49.05 | ||
| 12 | Sarah McDonald | |
4:50.90 | ||
| 13 | Jenny Meadows | |
4:56.17 |
Men’s Mile
13:43 | Mens Bupa Great North 1 Mile
| Pos | Name | Country/Club | Performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garrett Heath | |
4:01.56 | ||
| 2 | Leo Manzano | |
4:01.79 | ||
| 3 | Collis Birmingham | |
4:02.28 | ||
| 4 | Bethwel Birgen | |
4:06.45 | ||
| 5 | Asbel Kiprop | |
4:07.12 | ||
| 6 | Richard Weir | |
4:07.25 | ||
| 7 | Ryan Gregson | |
4:08.52 | ||
| 8 | Mukhtar Mohammed | |
4:08.96 | ||
| 9 | Michael Rimmer | |
4:09.11 | ||
| 10 | Kyle Langford | |
4:21.73 | ||
| 11 | Andrew Osagie | |
4:26.03 |