Fog on the Tyne as big names take part in Great North Run

Local TV Sport

Several big names were in attendance at the 2024 Great North Run, with around 60,000 runners in total taking part in the world’s biggest half marathon event. Daniel Wales reports from the start and finish lines.

Transcript

00:00There was fog on the tie-in in early September, as around 60,000 runners headed to Newcastle

00:07for the 2024 Great North Run. Amongst the crowd, several big names were lined up at

00:12the start, all eager to get going. They spoke about why the run meant so much to them, and

00:19how their preparations had been so far.

00:21I'm quite nervous this morning, but you know, it's fantastic, isn't it? People are starting

00:27to gather now. The Great North Run is the jewel in our crown as a region, and you can

00:31just feel the anticipation and the excitement right across the region, and it's lovely.

00:36We've called ourselves Bobby's Team. We've done it for three years now, and it's a group

00:40of writers, mostly, who love Bobby, knew Bobby, worked with Bobby, and kind of want to give

00:47something back to him. I hope there were times in Bobby's career when he was hammered by

00:51the media. I hope he would kind of be tickled by the idea of football writers running in

00:55kind of football shirts in his own.

00:58This is my favourite race. I think it's wonderful. This is the very first race I ever did when

01:02I started running, and that was in 2006. And when I did that, I trained with my two little

01:08kids, who were two and six months old at the time, in a buggy, pushed them along the river

01:13as I trained. And I've come here today. I was supposed to be running it, but I broke

01:17my ankle. So I've come here anyway, because my daughter, who was two at the time when

01:21I first started training, is running it. So I've come to cheer her on.

01:24It's just part of what makes this region great, what makes this city great. If you ask people

01:29what is Newcastle, you'll get three of the four shame answers. Obviously, Newcastle United,

01:34the Tyne Bridge, and then, of course, the Great North Road. It's just an institution

01:39of this city and this great region. And it's great to be part of such a fantastic community.

01:44So I've been training from about May. I started... It's when we're filming Dragon's Dead, actually,

01:49in Manchester. I've got a brilliant running coach in Manchester. So he was training with

01:53me three mornings a week. But the problem is, we start... I'm in hair and make-up for

01:58seven o'clock in the morning, which means it's generally about half past five we would

02:01meet and try and run beforehand. So, yeah, it was a bit of dedication, I can tell you.

02:07This year's official starter was Olympic silver medallist Ciarán Reilly from Gateshead.

02:12If you look at the people that's done this before, to be added to that list is special.

02:16I didn't expect to get this opportunity, so I'm absolutely buzzing to be here. I've been

02:20following up Eddie Howe. He's quite sick. Hopefully he sees it and I'll get in to see

02:24the boys. It was actually only a couple of weeks ago at a Newcastle game. I met Sir Brendan

02:28Foster. We got talking about doing this and just got it all put into work super quick.

02:33I mean, we managed to film all the promo and everything with just a couple of days' notice.

02:38Yeah, I've been looking forward to it ever since. My mum's running today, so I'm excited

02:42to cheer her on. It's going to be a good day.

02:45Later on, down at the coast, the masses rounded the final corner before the last mile, where

02:50they could taste the success as the crowds lining the road cheered them on. The atmosphere,

02:55despite the weather, was uplifting and drove the runners on to the finish.

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