Personal triumphs power this year's Great Birmingham Run

National World - LocalTV

Richard Gullick reports from the Great Birmingham Run, exploring the economic impact, emotional stories, logistical scale, and the race’s evolving future in Birmingham.

Transcript

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.

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