Richard Gullick reports from the Great Birmingham Run, exploring the economic impact, emotional stories, logistical scale, and the race’s evolving future in Birmingham.
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00:00The Great Birmingham Run isn't just a challenge for runners.
00:07It's a quiet win for the city's high streets.
00:10Hospitality sees a lift and footfall jumps in places usually struggling.
00:15When thousands turn up, it drives more than energy.
00:19It brings jobs, spending and a sense of momentum to a city trying to move forward.
00:25There's value here even for those who don't run a single step.
00:30The Great Birmingham Run is a fantastic day in Birmingham.
00:33We've offered 16,000 runners here raising over a million pounds for charity
00:37and putting hundreds of thousands of pounds into the local economy.
00:40It's great to see the city come out to celebrate today
00:43and individuals and communities and charities all taking part and all benefiting.
00:48Among all the lycra and crowd noise is the personal stories that stick.
00:53Some runners are fighting grief, others ticking off a recovery goal.
00:57Just getting to the start line for many takes more courage than the finish.
01:01There's power in being part of something collective, especially when life's been trying to break you apart.
01:07That's the heart of this event, not just the miles.
01:11I had surgery on a broken neck from a sporting injury, so I had surgery at the Royal Oak Pedic Hospital.
01:17I wanted to raise as much money as possible and I saw this was like their affiliate race,
01:21so May tends to come back to Birmingham and try and raise as much as possible, which we've done well.
01:26So we're West Midlands Ambulance Service, so we're always working in the city centre,
01:29but we're also the whole of West Midlands.
01:31And then we're doing it for the Ambulance Staff Charity and together for Short Lives, the Children's Charity,
01:35which is a local charity to us.
01:37So we're running the whole half marathon with the Fairtex stretcher behind us
01:42and two medical kickbacks and an AED.
01:45And then the CMOS are going to swap round and pass it on every like one kilometre each, all the way.
01:50Yeah, I think it's a big race. I think 16,000 people running it, so it made sense.
01:55Birmingham, coming back here and running where there's going to be a lot of people.
01:59A good atmosphere, so yeah, looking forward to it.
02:02It's nice to be here. We're a local team and then it's our local big run that we can do.
02:08And then it's nice to make some money for charity at the same time as well.
02:14Pulling off an event this size is no small task.
02:17Road closures, emergency plans, public backlash, it's a minefield.
02:21But when it works and no one notices, that's how you know it's been done right.
02:26And let's be honest, in times where local services are stretched, confidence in authority low,
02:31getting a day like this to run smoothly is no mean feat.
02:35It takes discipline and detail.
02:39Birmingham's undergone a huge amount of redevelopment over the last ten years.
02:42And so every year we have to make changes to the course and changes to the event plans.
02:46But we have fantastic support from our partners at the council to make sure that we get all of this done.
02:51And as you can see, the demand and support for the event is really strong and really positive.
02:56Really strong and really positive.