Great North Run 2009

I ran the Great North Run this morning. There were 54,000 of us and one category for everyone - the half marathon. It was a point-to-point race - starting in Newcastle and finishing in South Shields, at the coast facing the North Sea. I've never ran in such a crowded environment before until today. Well, London Marathon was another one but that's twice the distance of this. The energy from the crowd itself was an encouragement!

I was lucky to win the ballot to run two big races this year. After winning a place for the London Marathon, I have also won a place to run the Great North Run. I first came to know about this run from Uncle Sonny who encouraged me to sign up for the ballot. After reading what it was, I discovered why it was so famous. It is the world's biggest half marathon and probably one of the few (or the only) half marathons that go by lottery. Because it is a well-known run, the goodie bag and medal that came with it, were also good. There were many sponsors for the race.

The crowd

Runners at Tyne Bridge and the Red Arrows
(photo by MailOnline)

At 6am when I arrived, the temperature was 6 deg C. The race started at 10.40am and by the time, the temperature went up a few notch, 8ish. Still it was too cold for me. It was certainly much colder than London!

Baggage buses

I kept to a pace of 7.5 mins/mile for the first 10 miles. The undulation of the course was too much for me. I was exhausted by the 11th mile and slowed to a pace of slightly more than 8 mins/mile. This took a beating on my goal to smash my previous personal best. I ditched the plan as soon as I realised I've screwed up at the 11th mile. So I did a relax pace all the way to the finish.

My time was 1hr 40mins 53secs.


The Great North Run is "Great" for a reason. In my years of running, I've never come across a race so well supported by celebrities, the Royal Air Force and us, the runners, despite it being far away from London! Come on, we are talking about the Red Arrows performing for a running event!! The last time I saw the Red Arrows was during the Trooping the Colour for the Queen.

Red Arrows

Celebrities who were there include Gordon Ramsay and wife, Sting and more than 30 soap stars from Britain's Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

The cost and time of travel were too much for me. I came back feeling like I just returned from war. I have a feeling my body is going to give up on me soon! Two days, 10.5 hours of travel, a 2-hour run, and a 2-hour sightseeing of the city. For non-runners, these numbers do not stack up at all to make a trip there!

I stank of dried sweat because I returned straight after the race and a walkabout in the city without shower. The huge crowd meant the organisers couldn't provide shower facilities for everyone. My feet are bruised and my body is feeling heaty possibly from a lack of sleep from the bus travel and dehydration. Don't get me wrong, it was a great race and something very different from the ones I've done before. In fact, I would recommend runners to do this race if they have the chance. But for now I am not sure if I'll do it again. Like always, I say the same thing for every marathon or "unattractive race" (like those requiring me to travel long distance), yet I find myself doing them again and again when my thoughts are clearer.