Former Get Kids Going! supported athlete and Get Kids Going ambassador Shelly Woods has won the Great North Run for the eighth time. It’s her first victory in the race since 2014 and she last competed in 2019. The Great North Run celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, so it was a very special race and Shelly had a great finishing time of 57:01.
Fellow Brit, 24 year old Sean Frame, won the men’s wheelchair title for the first time
Shelly last raced competitively at the inaugural Müller 2021 Wheelchair Marathon which she won. Shelly first won the Great North Run back in 2007 and she was supported by Get Kids Going! with a sports wheelchair as a young athlete.
She was disappointed to not be selected for Tokyo as there was a mix up with her licensing, so this victory will give her great confidence for the upcoming race season.
In an interview with the BBC after the Great North Run she said: “It was really, really good. I’m pleased to be here back racing again after a bit of time out. It’s great to be back here.
“It’s been tough training during the pandemic but I kind of had the mindset of ‘keep going’, as eventually there will be some races at the end of it. I tried to target Tokyo but didn’t actually get there. So it’s nice to be able to now race and put all that training into something”.
“I always love coming back here because of the crowds. I’ll keep coming back until I’m really old!”
We look forward to seeing Shelly in more events in the coming season and wish her best of luck for the future. Once again a huge congratulations to Shelly Woods for winning the Great North Run 2021