Sport
The Great North Run is the second largest half marathon in the world ( following Göteborgsvarvet , Gothenburg , Sweden ), taking place annually in North East England each September . Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields . The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000m 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 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
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