GNR 2013: Farah tastes defeat on the South Shields sea front

The Tyne Bridge adorned for the first time with the Great North Run sign

DOUBLE Olympic champions Mo Farah took to the mean streets of the North East for the first time today but his bid for victory in his maiden Great North Run ended in defeat.

It was a very close-run thing, though, as Farah and winner Kenenisa Bekele treated the chilly South Shields crowd to a thrilling sprint finish.

For much of the race, Farah and Bekele had been joined by the legendary Haile Gebrselassie who was still competing aged 40, ultimately setting a new world record for his age-group.

Between them, the trio can boast no fewer than seven Olympic gold medals and they set off at an impressive pace, completing mile seven in just 4:21.

That pace seemed to catch out Bekele a little but, while he dropped about 20 metres behind, he made sure not to fall completely out of contention - and he was back in touch for a climactic finish.

Indeed, Bekele was first to make a move, pulling away down a steep slope in mile 12 - something which would have been rather unfamiliar to track star Farah.

But, still, Farah would not give up - and, as Gebrselassie faded to third, the stage was set for the Briton to chase down the lead.

Closer and closer came Farah but the tape was also coming closer and closer for Bekele. It was really unclear just which one would come first.

However, after a couple of anxious looks over the shoulder and a defensive weave across the path of Farah, one final kick would prove enough for Ethiopian Bekele to complete the course in 60:09.

Farah, just a second behind, was left only with the rare and bitter taste of defeat, though undoubtedly also with a hunger to road race again.

Meanwhile, in the women's elite race, an exciting finish of a different sort developed.

Unlike in the men's competition, there was no doubt who was going to win - Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo was well ahead of all of her rivals.

Instead, it was Jeptoo against the clock as, despite the dreary conditions, she chased down Paula Radcliffe's half-marathon record of 65:40, set in the 2003 Great North Run.

Radcliffe, who was on commentary duty today for the BBC, will have breathed a sigh of relief when Jeptoo crossed the line.

It was not quite quick enough, five seconds off the record to be accurate, though still the third-fastest time in history.

In the wheelchair races, the Tyneside crowds could cheer home success - in both the men's and women's events.

Six-time Paralympic gold medallist David Weir (43:06) took the men's event for the fifth time, a feat matched by Shelly Woods, who finished in 54:28.

But, of course, the Great North Run is not just about the elite athletes. Today, another 55,000+ runners, joggers, try-hards, and never-give-uppers also crossed the line in South Shields, raising millions between them for charity.

Little did Brendan Foster know just how big the Great North Run would become when he devised the first edition in 1981.

As Foster freely admits: “To be honest we had no idea if anyone was going to turn up at all

"But they did. And it’s just grown. When we reached 40,000 entrants a few years back, someone said that’s it, we can’t get any bigger. But we have."

Now, the run is constantly over-subscribed and attracts regular praise for its level of organisation.

And next year's entrants have the added incentive of the possibility of being the millionth person in the race's history to cross the line, the very first mass-participation event set to reach landmark.

Amongst the throng this year for the second time was my sister, Helen, a keen runner as she amply demonstrated in comfortably breaking the hour-mark in the Blaydon Race.

My sister was running for a brilliant charity, the Alzheimer's Society, a cause close to all of our hearts in our family, given that dementia has blighted three of our grandparents' latter days.

Dementia, which affects approximately 800,000 people in the United Kingdom alone, does not discriminate between the victims which it chooses.

It is a harrowing, often drawn-out illness without a known cure - and much more scientific research needs to be done to solve the enigma or at least stem the tide.

This is where the Alzheimer's Society comes in - but, of course, research requires money and so it feels only right that I should annotate this blog posting with my sister's JustGiving page.

Helen was very proud to represent the Alzheimer's Society today and she did them proud, finishing in a personal best time of two hours and 12 minutes.

A brilliant effort on a day which - even when the sun does not shine - never fails to show Newcastle and Tyneside in anything but a fantastic light.

For Nanna x

Gannin' alang the Scotswood Road...

GEORDIE pride has taken a bit of a blow in recent weeks with the screening of six-part reputation-shredding Geordie Shore on MTV.

A Facebook group proclaiming the death of Geordie pride on 24th May, the date of the first episode, now has nearly 30,000 members.

But, last night, the 31st Blaydon Race did its best to claim back our regional identity from the strangely perma-tanned pissheads on national television.

Never mind that the lads' winner was Kenyan Edwin Kipkorir in 28 minutes 25 seconds or that the fastest lass was Justina Helsop (31:45) from Clapham Chasers in London.

There were plenty of local club harriers and unattached runners who did themselves proud - not to mention the bands, the pubs and folk dancers providing associated entertainment.

As usual, the lads and lasses gathered for the 5.9-mile run at Balmbras on the Groat Market.

Tension built in the legs during a quick rendition of Geordie Ridley's famous music hall anthem before the race began at 7.15pm, winding its way through town past the Centre for Life and the Metro Radio Arena.

The first-mile post appeared just as we started to gan alang the Scotswood Road which is effectively a long, gentle slope towards the three-mile point before Scotswood Bridge.

After climbing the bridge and crossing the Tyne into the Borough of Gateshead, another friendly downhill slope took us into a contra-flow through Derwenthaugh.

Then, an unwelcome climb onto a footbridge led us onto the flat Chainbridge Road before a climb over the fly-over and a run through Blaydon town among the crowd throng in the last mile.

Having somewhat foolishly only made a half-hearted attempt at training, I was happy basically to survive the race by running 11-minute miles.

In respect of that aim, I was pretty successful, finishing in 69 minutes and 40 seconds (1:09.40) with a strained groin at two miles but a surprise attempt at a sprint finish to the line.

Of course, that was among the slower times in the night. In 2003, I completed a slightly shorter 5.7-mile race inside 56 minutes, and I was well beaten last night by my sister who completed her run in 62 minutes.

However, I was not disheartened by my relative tardiness. For a start, my time gives me plenty to work with and, after a bit more training, I would be hoping to be back towards 10-minute miles.

Also, my fast finish - though undoubtedly fuelled by adrenaline - suggested there was probably more in my legs for earlier in the race.

I had been concerned, though, that going any faster near the start would have led to a severe burnout. This actually happened back in my 2003 when I could barely put one foot in front of another for the final couple of miles.

And so, in an odd way, I am happier with my slower time as it appeared to be the result of a properly evenly-paced run rather than a screaming start and a burnout.

If nothing else, those extra 13 minutes allowed me to soak up a bit more of the excellent atmosphere created by the crowds - whether I wanted to or not!

Overall, my impressions of the event were positive.

And, with the Great North Run still to come on 18th September, I might make it as an amateur distance runner yet - even if my left groin and right knee do not seem to agree with that, this morning.

Note: Next year's Blaydon Race is the 150th anniversary of the 1862 horse race to which Geordie Ridley's song refers. As this website shows, there are already moves afoot to celebrate the occasion. 

The full BLAYDON RACE lyrics
by Geordie Ridley (1862)

Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,
Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;
Aw tyuk the 'bus frae Balmbra's, an' she wis heavy laden,
Away we went alang Collingwood Street, that's on the road to Blaydon.

Ah me lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',
We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';
Thor wes lots o' lads an' lasses there, all wi' smiling faces,
Gawn alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races.

We flew past Airmstrang's factory, and up to the "Robin Adair",
Just gannin' doon te the railway bridge, the 'bus wheel flew off there.
The lasses lost their crinolines off, an' the veils that hide their faces,
An' aw got two black eyes an' a broken nose in gan te Blaydon Races.

When we gat the wheel put on away we went agyen,
But them that had their noses broke they cam back ower hyem;
Sum went to the Dispensary an' uthers to Doctor Gibbs,
An' sum sought out the Infirmary to mend their broken ribs.

Noo when we gat to Paradise thor wes bonny gam begun;
Thor was fower-an-twenty on the 'bus, man, hoo they danced an' sung;
They called on me to sing a sang, aw sung them "Paddy Fagan",
Aw danced a jig an' swung my twig that day aw went to Blaydon.

We flew across the Chain Bridge reet into Blaydon toon,
The bellman he was callin' there, they call him Jackie Broon;
Aw saw him talkin' to sum cheps, an' them he was pursuadin'
To gan an' see Geordy Ridley's concert in the Mechanics' Hall at Blaydon.

The rain it poor'd aw the day an' myed the groons quite muddy,
Coffy Johnny had a white hat on - they war shootin' "Whe stole the cuddy."
There wes spice stalls an' munkey shows an' aud wives selling ciders,
An' a chep wiv a hapenny roond aboot, shootin' "Noo, me lads, for riders."

Best foot forward

THE GREAT North Run is a massive annual event on the North East calendar - and I don't just mean on the sporting calendar.

In fact, the race from Newcastle to South Shields attracts over 50,000 entries and hours of BBC coverage, making it the world's most iconic half marathon.

This year, two days before my 28th birthday, I should be taking my place on the start line (or some way behind it) with thousands of others.

Yes, I have been 'fortunate' enough to be selected in the general ballot - but, already, part of me is absolutely petrified of what I have let myself in for.

Like many novice entrants into the Great North Run, I have never run 13.1 miles in my life - and I suspect I will never again do so after September.

For the record, the furthest I have officially run was 5.7 miles in the 2004 Blaydon Race but that was now more than six-and-a-half years ago.

Indeed, my last attempt at a proper run was last year's Sport Relief Mile in Gateshead's Saltwell Park when I just about collapsed over the line having been drinking until 3am that morning.

That was over just one measly mile and, though the late night undoubtedly did not help, it was still an embarrassing indictment of my fitness.

Since then, the poor state of my cardio has been playing on my mind hence the rather rash entry into the Great North Run.

But, having paid my entry fee and gained a place, it seems wrong to waste the chance of ticking off one of the things I have always wanted to do in my life.

In preparation, I plan to train up for and re-enter this year's Blaydon Race (now 5.9 miles) on 9th June, Geordie Day.

However, most of my Great North Run training will be made in the 12 weeks after the usual indulgences of the Glastonbury Festival.

Yes, once again, I will be making the annual pilgrimage at the end of June to Michael Eavis' Worthy Farm in Somerset to see - among other things - Beyonce Knowles shake her booty.

The July to September plan is probably leaving myself short of doing justice to the run to South Shields.

But, like my mum and my sister in 2009, and countless others before and since, I will more than likely just be happy to finish having picked up my fitness a little.

A moment of madness to be regretted or a great chance for personal achievement?

I suppose all will be revealed on Sunday 18th September.

The Great North Run: A moment of personal pride in my family

MARTIN LEL might have won the Great North Run for the second time in three years but it was not his performance this time that I was really looking out for.

While the Kenyan's time of 59 minutes 32 seconds was undoubtedly impressive, my mam and my sister were also among a throng of 54,000 running the 13.1 miles between Newcastle and South Shields.

On an unseasonably warm September day, both found the going tough as the sun beat down on their weary bodies.

But, after overcoming the psychological barrier of 10 miles, they hung on and reached the final mile along the sea front.

It was the homecoming mile and the end not only to their race but what mam later called an "unforgettable experience".

For the record, my sister - running with work friends - finished in 2hrs 40minutes while my mam found participants of similar ability in the crowd to finish just under an hour further behind.

The times didn't really matter, though - certainly not to my mam, who achieved her stated aim of completing the Great North Run by the age of 50.

She turns 50 at the start of December and, having now done it once, she is proud enough of that fact and does not expect to participate in the event again.

My sister, at 23 years old, is a keen gym-goer but even she has no desire to follow Eddie Izzard's lead after the comedian's recent feat of 43 full marathons in just 51 days.

Nevertheless, I am very proud of them both and indeed of all the runners who took part in the largest half marathon in the world on Sunday.

The event has never been more popular since it was first devised in 1981 by former Olympic bronze medallist Brendan Foster.

It raises huge amounts for charity every year and has now become an institution itself - a major part of the North East calendar.

In this year's competitive races, Lel ran the second fastest winning time in the event's history to win a tight men's contest by just 12 seconds from his fellow Kenyan Kiplimo Kimutai.

Portugal's Jessica Augusto was a surprise but clear winner of the women's race, completing the course in 1hr 9 minutes and 8 seconds.

In the men's wheelchair race, David Weir broke the course record with a time of 41 minutes 34 seconds, and the women's race was won by Amanda McGrory who clocked 49 minutes 47 seconds.

Personally, I've always fancied myself as a bit of a long-distance runner and going for a run is something which I will do if I want to clear my head.

But, to my shame, I have only ever run one official UK Athletics race when I finished the 2003 Blaydon Race, a distance of 5.7 miles, in 55m 36s.

After seeing the pride in the faces of my mam and my sister, though, the temptation of completing this personal achievement has never been greater. Maybe next year...