Over 50,000 runners of all levels, ages and abilities will flock to the North East of England this weekend to take part in one of the main fixtures of the running calendar- The Great North Run.
The legendary run takes place on the 19th September and is the highlight of the Bupa ‘Great Run’ series. It is also one of the most popular and iconic half marathons in the world.
The event attracts some of the top athletes in distance running and this year is no different. Topping the bill for the men’s event is the legendary Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who has broken twenty-six world records in his career and is the current marathon world record holder with an astonishing time of 2 hours 3 minutes and 57 seconds.
However, the aging Gebrselassie is sure to be pushed all the way by last year’s Great North Run winner, Martin Lel of Kenya. British interest comes in the form of Andy Lemoncello. The Scot has represented Great Britain on the track at major championships and was the first Brit to finish the 2010 London Marathon.
The women’s race should also provide an interesting spectacle, with British athletes Mara Yamauchi, Liz Yelling and Hayley Yelling- Higham amongst the favourites, although Romania’s Constantina Dita and Berhane Adere of Ethiopia are sure to challenge for the top spots.
It will not just be a day for the elite runners however, as many people will be running in fancy dress, raising money for a charity or simply attempting a personal challenge.
To coincide with the Great North Run, we have designed the ‘Ready to Run’ series as part of the Running Zone at intosport.com.
This series of videos is designed to help runners who are new to the sport with detailed breakdowns of exercises, drills, tips and more.
Filmed with elite level marathon runners, the videos provide an introduction to different areas of training, such as speed, strength and endurance, which will help our members to get the most out of their training. The first video in the series focuses on the warm up- an essential part of any athletes training session.
At intosport.com, we realise that the key to gaining enjoyment out of a sport like running is to have a varied and challenging training programme. We hope that the ‘Ready to Run’ series will help to provide exactly that.
If you are competing in this year’s Great North Run we wish you the best of luck! If not, maybe the ‘Ready to Run’ series will inspire you to get involved in next year’s event…
You can follow live coverage of the Great North Run on BBC 1 and Radio Five Live from 09:30 on September 19th.