I’ve been running for six years now, and I’ve racked up a fair few races in that time. My “Jar of Awesome”, which holds my medals, is getting pretty full.
The Jar of Awesome.
While I’ve never thought too hard about my race bucket list, there have been a couple that have managed to slip into the back of my mind and politely asked me to notice them. The Great North Run is one such race and with good reason. The Great North Run, aka the GNR, is reported as the world’s biggest half marathon and the UK’s biggest mass participation running event. This year, 43,127 people crossed the finish line. I was told that the support rivaled the London Marathon, another bucket list race that I’ve been lucky enough to take part in, and they were not wrong.
Now, there are things you have to remember about races this big.
Firstly, if you have to travel, it is going to cost you. I booked my accommodation later than I would have liked and while looking for hotels in the area, some were pricing their rooms at £200+ a night. As I was looking to stay for two nights, it was nearly £500 just on a place to sleep. I ended up going with a company called Nirvana Europe, which was half the price of the hotels. This is mostly because I was in self catering student digs for the weekend, which was actually great. The Newcastle Uni student halls were so much nicer than the ones I had when I went to uni and they were only about 10-15 minute walk from the start zone.
Another thing to remember is that the run is going to be busy and it’s going to be congested. I met a couple of runners on my way back home who were complaining about the amount of runners, especially about the ones who started walking early on into the race and those who walked five abreast. I’m not going to get into race etiquette at the moment, but I will say that the congestion should not have been a shock due to the sheer size of the race. I rarely go to these sorts of races intent on getting a PB because of this.
Lastly, getting out will also be busy. One of the things I didn’t realise about the GNR when I first signed up, was that while it starts in the middle of Newcastle, it ends 13.1 miles away in South Shields. Which in terms of the run was great, it was a joy to spot the sea coming up to the 12 mile marker. It does mean that 47,000ish other runners and spectators will be trying to get out of the area on the same day. Which means queues, which means a bit of a wait. I do suggest having a plan to get back. Nirvana Europe does sell a bus ticket to get back to the start, which I was glad to get. There was no muss or fuss and to top it off, the bus dropped me back in front of the student digs. Score!
I have to say I loved this race. Yes, it was costly, yes it was busy and yes it took a while to get out the area, but those were minor complaints about a race that was really well organised, had a great atmosphere and was fun. Getting to the start was easy from where I was staying. The route was good, I enjoyed going over the bridge and the “Oggy Oggy Oggy” call in the underpass was fun to take part in. The support was excellent, loads of people turned up to cheer us along, bringing jelly babies, biscuits, orange slices and more. I did the hearts shape with my hands as I went past the numerous bands that were playing for us and got smiles and thumbs up back. I’ve got to give a shout out to the St John Ambulance member that found me a spare safety pin as I’d managed to lose one mid run.
A big highlight of the race for me was seeing Colin, aka @bigpinkdressgnr part way through the run. They truly are an inspiration for anyone that does fundraising and he always has the best looking dresses. He’s an absolute gent to boot, so maybe go and give him a follow on twitter or maybe go send him a donation, Colin runs to raise money for Breast Cancer Now.
For a race so huge, I found there to be very few issues on the day. I’ll admit that I didn’t use the bag drop this time, opting to take everything I needed round my waist. The water stations were well done, the start was long, but easy to find, and I found the finish chute worked well.
Are you one of the thousands upon thousands of people that have run the Great North Run and what did you think of it? Is it on your bucket list? Let me know in the comments!
fayarun 