Great North Run

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Great North Run.svg
Great North Run
The Great North Run (259730978).jpg
The Great North Run is a mass participation event: two lines of runners merging near the one mile mark
Date September annually
Location Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields, United Kingdom
Event type road
Distance Half marathon
Official site www.greatrun.org

The Bupa Great North Run is the world's largest half marathon, taking place annually each September.[1] Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields in England. The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster.

The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2011, the number of participants had risen to 54,000. For the first year it was advertised as a local fun run; nearly thirty years on it has become one of the biggest running events in the world, and the biggest in the UK. Only the London Marathon (Britain's second biggest road race every year since 1981) comes close to attracting similar numbers of athletes each year.

Contents

[edit] History

The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. Foster was inspired after running in the Round the Bays Race in New Zealand in 1979, and has built upon the Great North Run with a series of other Great Run road races.

The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2003, the number of participants had risen to 47,000. The 2011 event saw an announced field of 54,000. The number of finishers was 35,777 in 2007, the largest half marathon and the 13th largest running race that year.[2] Note: The Göteborgsvarvet (Gothenburg Half Marathon) on May 16, 2009 had a total of 40,523 finishing runners and was then the world's largest half-marathon.[3]

In the 2005 Great North Run, the race celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. Events to mark the anniversary included the launch of the Great North Run Cultural Programme at the Sage Gateshead

On race day itself, four participants died en-route to South Shields. An inquest into the four deaths from 2005 began on Monday 5 June 2006 at Gateshead Council Chambers.

Following the death of four runners in 2005, more emergency service personnel were brought in to ensure there was adequate cover, although on race day itself, one participant died en-route to South Shields.

The 2007 Great North Run was held on 30 September and was started by former England and Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson. Kara Goucher defeated Paula Radcliffe in an impressive victory for the American. Goucher's winning time was 1:06:57.

The 2008 Great North Run was held on 5 October and was started by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair.

The 2009 Great North Run was held on 20 September and was started by the musician Sting.

The 2010 Great North Run was the 30th running of the event and was held on 19 September and was started by TV presenters Ant & Dec. The number of finishers (half marathon only) was 39,459.[4]

The 2011 Great North Run took place on the morning of Sunday, 18 September 2011. The race was started by World 5,000 metre champion Mo Farah.[5]

[edit] Results

[edit] Winners of the men's race

Runners taking part in 2006

[edit] Winners of the women's race

Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher heading the pack in the 2007 race

[edit] Winners of the men's wheelchair race

[edit] Winners of the women's wheelchair race

[edit] Sponsorship

Bupa has been title partner of the Great North Run for the last 18 years, one of Britain’s longest ever sports sponsorship agreements.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "BBC Sport - Jo Pavey and Mara Yamauchi back for the Great North Run". BBC News (London: BBC). 17 September 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/14800876.stm. Retrieved 24 September 2011. 
  2. ^ http://www.runningusa.org/cgi/evbig-world.pl Running USA - RRIC World's Largest Races
  3. ^ sv:Göteborgsvarvet
  4. ^ The highest overall postion number for a runner, when searching the results on http://www.greatrun.org
  5. ^ "BUPA Great North Run @ Newcastle – Gateshead, UK, 18th September 2011". Race-Calendar.com. 24 Hour Trading Ltd. http://race-calendar.com/bupa-great-north-run-newcastle-gateshead-uk-18th-september-2011/13242/. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 

[edit] External links
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