Largest half marathon in the world, North East England, September
Great North Run
Date
September annually (occasionally October)
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields, England, UK
Event type
Road
Distance
Half marathon
Primary sponsor
AJ Bell
Established
1981
Course records
Men: Martin Mathathi 58:56 Women: Brigid Kosgei 1:04:28
Official site
Great North Run
The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September.[1] Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields. The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster.
The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2011, the number of participants had risen to 54,000. For the first year it was advertised as a local fun run; nearly thirty years on it has become one of the biggest running events in the world, and the biggest in the UK. Only the Great Manchester Run and London Marathon come close to attracting similar numbers of athletes each year.
The 1992 edition of the race incorporated the 1st IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The event also has junior and mini races attached with these being run the Saturday before the main race on the Newcastle Quayside. Martin Mathathi holds the current men's course record with his run of 58:56 in 2011. In 2019, Brigid Kosgei's women's course record of 64:28[2] bettered the previous mark by over a minute and was also the fastest ever half marathon by a woman; however, the course was not eligible for records. That same year, Mo Farah won a record sixth consecutive men's Great North Run.[3]
^"Largest half marathon". Guinness World Records.
^"Bridged Kosgei runs the fastest". twitter.com. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
^"BBC Sport on Twitter". 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
event in the United Kingdom, behind the GreatNorthRun and the London Marathon. It is part of the GreatRun series of road races in the UK. It was formerly...
The 34th GreatNorthRun took place on 7 September 2014 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair...
The 37th GreatNorthRun took place on 10 September 2017 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair...
enough that she qualified to run in the British Championship women's race in future events. For the 2008 GreatNorthRun, she competed with the fun runners...
in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It is a part of the GreatRun series of events, and as such is linked with the GreatNorthRun. It was run for the first...
The GreatNorthRun Cultural Programme, now known as GreatNorthRun Culture, is an annual series of artistic commissions which celebrate and respond to...
The 35th GreatNorthRun took place on 13 September 2015 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair...
sporting events. They most notably organise the GreatNorthRun, Great South Run and Great Manchester Run annually. They are formally known as Nova International...
The GreatNorth is an American animated sitcom created by Wendy Molyneux, Lizzie Molyneux, and Minty Lewis that premiered on Fox on January 3, 2021. It...
64:28 minutes at the 2019 GreatNorthRun in Newcastle, England, 23 seconds faster than previous best, however the GreatNorthRun is not eligible for record...
"GreatNorthRun: Mo Farah wins record fourth successive title". BBC Sport. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017. "2017 GreatNorthRun Results"...
injuring herself during the Bogotá Marathon, Kosgei decided to run the GreatNorthRun, in order to practice ahead of the 2018 Chicago Marathon. She finished...
The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the...
Foster established the annual GreatNorthRun, one of the best known half marathons in which thousands of participants run from Newcastle to South Shields...
Great Manchester Run, a major 10k generally held on the Sunday. The first event was in May 2009. The latter is held in conjunction to the GreatNorth...
000 m in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (27:01 to 27:06), and in the GreatNorthRun half marathon in September 2013 (60:09 to 60:41). In 2004, Bekele broke...
British woman, finishing third on her debut at the distance at the GreatNorthRun, despite getting into a tangle with a spectator. Starting 2000, Radcliffe...
runner, athletics commentator and road race organiser. He founded the GreatNorthRun, one of the sport's most high profile half-marathon races. As an athlete...
name, the Great Eastern Run is not a part of the GreatRun series of events, which includes the GreatNorthRun. The first Great Eastern Run took place...
narrated a segment on the history of North East England as part of the televised opening ceremony for the GreatNorthRun. She then appeared as a timid middle-class...
the 2012 Summer Olympics. In September 2011, she participated in the GreatNorthRun. She features in the BBCs CBeebies animation Mama Mirabelle's Home...
The Great Plains, sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located just to the east of the Rocky Mountains...
Global Information
Martin Mathathi 58:56