Crowds come out for the Great North Run

National World - LocalTV

The 2023 Great North Run took place on a hot Sunday in September, with the masses braving the heat to either run the half marathon or support those who were. Amongst them, several big names were in attendance.

Transcript

00:00 On a warm and humid morning in Newcastle, there was calm before the storm that was the Great North Run.

00:08 There were many big names in attendance at the start line, all of a joy to be part of the occasion.

00:14 Really looking forward to it, a bit out of my comfort zone, because I'm only used to ever running about 20 yards.

00:19 But I'm looking forward to today and they tell me it's a great atmosphere, the crowd pull you along, so I'm certainly going to need that today.

00:26 Being from the North East, where everyone knows you, and you just, these are my people.

00:32 You know what it's like, the North East, we get behind our own like nobody's business.

00:37 Yeah, I think it's a great honour to be here today. I think, for me, knowing that Sir Bobby started the event,

00:45 and other prestigious names have been here and had the honour to start the event,

00:49 for me it was a very simple decision to say yes and support Newcastle in any way that I can.

00:53 We're so proud to be here, the incredible work that the Great North Run has done, Sir Brendan has inspired me,

01:00 inspired us all at Newcastle, so we're just really excited.

01:05 Other runners taking part all had their own stories to tell.

01:10 So last year we were invited by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and George Cole,

01:16 the athletic to join Sir Bobby's team, which is just a team of journalists as you said there,

01:21 to help raise awareness and funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation,

01:25 which is one day hopefully going to cure cancer.

01:28 I've got a couple of friends here with me as well, I've got Mike from Edinburgh,

01:32 come on Mike, this great big mountain man, woohoo!

01:36 And I've got my brother-in-law as well, who's from Manchester, so yeah, we're hoping to have an amazing day.

01:42 I caught a word with Brendan Foster, the organiser of the original Great North Run way back in the 1980s.

01:48 Well we're having a great day, you can see people are gathering here at the start,

01:52 it's getting a little bit warm so we're obviously a little bit nervous, a bit cautious.

01:55 I hope everyone takes on board their drinks, I hope they have a good day,

01:58 and good luck to everyone who's watching, good luck to everyone who's running,

02:02 and good luck to the spectators on the route.

02:04 The main race got underway at just after 11 o'clock in the morning,

02:08 with Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe ringing the starting bell.

02:13 The masses then proceeded over the Tyne Bridge,

02:16 with the Red Arrows making their usual appearance to create the iconic scene.

02:21 Then down at the coast, runners rounded the final corner onto the home stretch.

02:27 At the finish, runners celebrated as they crossed the line

02:30 and became one of the thousands of people to complete the momentous run.

02:35 So today I'm running for Inter University, Inter University is a charity,

02:40 we work in a number of different communities all over England and Scotland,

02:43 and as a charity we aim to support more children and more young people

02:47 from disadvantaged communities in Axton University.

02:50 The Great North Run is over for another year,

02:52 with around 60,000 having taken part in the event,

02:55 which is an advert not only for the North East, but the country as a whole.

03:00 I'm doing it, man.

03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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