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Bupa GREAT NORTH RUN

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, SUNDAY 5th OCTOBER 2008

The Great North Run is an iconic event, run each year, starting in Newcastle upon Tyne and finishing in South Shields. With around 47,000 runners it is the world’s biggest half marathon and this year the event was started by Tony Blair. Similar to the London marathon, a large proportion of the runners run for charity and displays by the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team are a particular feature. Congratulations to Kristen Davies who ran this year, her first half marathon, had a great day out and made her target of finishing in under 2.30 – well done.

Kristen said: " I'd never even run 5km without stopping to walk so you can imagine how chuffed I am that I ran the entire 13.1 miles without stopping to walk even one step. Still, I'm not sure I would have been able to do that without a friend running it with me - we were caught up in conversation.

I really enjoyed the event actually, but having not trained on too many hills my knees were a little worse for wear by the last mile. The crowds didnt phase me too much - I really loved the atmosphere. I started at the back of my wave and it was quite satisfying picking people off and overtaking them!

I've caught the half marathon bug now, so I've signed up to do the one in Carlisle on the 19th!"

Some photos:

The start

At the Tyne Bridge

At the ten mile point

The finish at South Shields