We will be in Newcastle this weekend cheering on all of our runners for the Great North Run. The race has special significance this year, after the anniversary celebrations were cancelled due to the pandemic last year. This year’s redesigned course starts and finishes in the centre of Newcastle (not finishing in South Shields as usual), crossing the Tyne Bridge twice. The BBC will be following coverage of the 13.1-mile distance from 09:00-10:00 on BBC Two and from 10:00-13:30 on BBC One.
“I think there is an extra significance to this year,” says Brendan Foster who founded the race. “It will demonstrate that the country’s getting back to normal and that ordinary people are getting back to doing what they want to do.”
“40 years ago today, surrounded by 12,000 runners and 200,000 spectators… we realised we were witnessing a scene which no one in the country had seen before.”
Former Get Kids Going! supported athlete and ambassador Shelly Woods will be competing in this year’s race once again.
Shelly last raced competitively at the inaugural Müller 2021 Wheelchair Marathon which she won. She said
“It was brutal out there but, it is great to race. There aren’t many opportunities to race at the moment, especially the big marathons, so it’s amazing that British Athletics were able to put this event on.
“My training has been going well and I’ve proved I can do a good time. I’m still coming back after I had my son. I had some time out after London Paralympics and didn’t go to Rio. It’s my son’s fourth birthday today, so I’m still steadily getting my times back up there. I feel like I’m getting better all the time, so that is a good thing.”
Joanna from North Shields, is one of the many runners who is taking part in the Great North Run for Get Kids Going!
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the finishing line and thank you for your brilliant efforts for the 40th Great North Run.