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Sep 12, 2027
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The AJ Bell Great North Run is a point-to-point half marathon from the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast at South Shields, held on a Sunday in September. The Great Run Company stages it. It was devised by Sir Brendan Foster, and the first race took place on 28 June 1981 with around 12,000 runners lining up on the Central Motorway. Runners start on the Central Motorway close to Town Moor, cross the Tyne Bridge, pass through Gateshead town centre and South Tyneside, and finish in South Shields after a final mile along the coast road. The organisers call it the world's biggest half marathon, and 63,000 runners took part in 2026. Places are allocated by ballot, with a first round in September and a second in January, or through charity places. A wheelchair race has been held alongside the run since the first edition. The course records are 58:56 for men, set by Martin Mathathi of Kenya in 2011, and 1:04:28 for women, set by Kenya's Brigid Kosgei in 2019. In 2026 Kosgei won again, in 1:06:15, and the United States' Zouhair Talbi won the men's race in 59:47.
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
September on the North East coast is mild: highs average about 17°C and lows about 9°C, with measurable rain on around 11 days of the month.
The Race
Newcastle upon Tyne
Sir Brendan Foster devised the Great North Run after running a mass-participation race in New Zealand in 1979. The first run was on 28 June 1981, when 12,264 people lined up in Newcastle. It became the UK's biggest mass-participation running event from the first day.
Martin Mathathi's men's course record of 58:56 has stood since 2011, and Brigid Kosgei's women's record of 1:04:28 has stood since 2019. Kosgei returned in 2026 and won in 1:06:15, slower than her own record, after Eilish McColgan withdrew with a foot injury early in the race.
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00:58:56
Martin Mathathi (2011)
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