“Queen of the roads” to run 10km event for first time in May

Priscah Jeptoo will look to continue her winning ways on May 18 as she makes her Bupa Great Manchester Run debut.

The Kenyan, who won the London and New York City marathons as well as the Bupa Great North Run last year, has never run a 10km road race in Europe before but could well beat her PB of 32:10 for the distance, given that is a much slower pace than she ran overall for the Great North last year.

In that race last September, Jeptoo clocked 65:45 the third fastest half-marathon time in history to beat two of the all-time greats of distance running, Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba.

“We’re delighted that Priscah is coming,” said Peter Riley, elite athlete manager for the Bupa Great Manchester Run. “It’s fair to say that she was queen of the roads in 2013. You don’t win the London Marathon, the New York Marathon and the Bupa Great North Run without being something special.

“She was brilliant in the Bupa Great North Run. It’ll be interesting to see how she runs over 10km in Manchester. It should be an excellent race.”

Wilson Kipsang, the world marathon record-holder, and Kenenisa Bekele, the fastest man in history over 5000m and 10,000m on the track, have already been confirmed for the men’s race in Manchester, with Kipsang among those joining Jeptoo in running the London Marathon the month before.

The Bupa Great Manchester Run is Europe’s biggest 10km race and an IAAF Gold Label event. It forms part of a weekend of athletics action in the city, with the BT Great CityGames taking place the day before on May 17.

For further info see www.greatrun.org/manchester

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