Great North Run: Part 2 Athletics


Great North Run: Part 2

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Not only is it more than I ever believed, we did not believe that

:00:33.:00:40.

the British public would take to distance running like they have done

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full when I look to it now, and I see it early beginnings, we

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genuinely did not know what we were doing. It is just incredible. I have

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said it before, but it is ordinary people doing extraordinary things,

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it's the people, it is the numbers, the fact that it is the elite

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athletes and the rest who make it what it is. There was a moment in

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that event last year, when they were coming past Gateshead Stadium, you

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had heavy debris Selassie, the greatest distance runner of all

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time, and then there was Mo Farah. Three of them running together past

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the Gateshead Stadium and you will not get much better than that. But

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the idea to have a million, to beat New York and London and Berlin and

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Chicago, it is fantastic. It is kind of the icing on the cake. STUDIO:

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Yes quite a day for Brendan, we welcome back on BBC Two. There is

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the countdown, is it going to go to six, it is working, between here and

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South Shields and the start in Newcastle, the millionth finisher is

:02:13.:02:19.

on the way. You tried keeping up with that clock as it starts getting

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on the way. You tried keeping up vanishing the crossing line. It will

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reach its peak. That will be in quite a while yet, plenty of people

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to head towards the finish line, lots of people riding for so many

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good causes, Brendan and the rest of us a whole team of people coming

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here, ?270,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund. So many people out there with

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so many stories of their own. Just keep watching that clock. Keep

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watching it tick. Towards the magic number. My daughter is out there,

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not looking for a personal best, plenty of people trying to break

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their best? My sister and is out there, running again, they have

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never given her a mention, varies your mention Hannah, good luck

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today, James Hunter, Helen Wallace. Others raising money for children,

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with illnesses, holiday of a lifetime. Paper and all of the

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family running together, my sister is running for cancer care. Just

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giving a mention as well to Caroline Ridley who is out there, running for

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the motor neurone Association, we saw a little peace with them in the

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beginning, sadly Caroline 's dad passed away a couple of years ago,

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and it is an emotional day for lots of people, lots of thoughts to those

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who have passed on. So many stories, of those we have been bringing to

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you. Trying to do that over the next couple of hours or so, it is one of

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the features, we love Mo Farah and Mary Khatami but we'll say like to

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see pictures like this. -- but we love to see pictures like this. The

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technology is so good these days. Is it a little bit by fortune but also

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by design, that we have a dual carriageway, that is why we can have

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such an enormous field, we can have 40,000 running down it, broad

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thoroughfares all of the way. We honestly did not believe that the

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dual carriageway would have a lot to do with it. Clearly, we did not

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think anything like this would ever happen. It is amazing when you are

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further down the field, it is a common all running event, if you

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want to run a quick time, then you will get too

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-- then you will get close to the front but otherwise you will be

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skipping around. I did notice, the time that you need to be an elite

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runner. The finish line has got onto the grass now, and it

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really is a huge crowd that comes through down the four channels. That

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was moved across about one hour and 20 minutes from the elite finish, if

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you think that you will be finishing on the road, you have got to get to

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one hour and 20 minutes. It is up to you to tell us where you will be

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finishing? I will be finishing on the sand, they move it further out

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to the North Sea after three hours. Plenty of people out there, a lot of

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people running for cocoa, so many people running with inspirational

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stories, if it inspires you then make sure you visit the BBC website,

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get inspired on twitter. We tried to make sure that we make good links

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between the elite part of sport and the participate read part of sport,

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that is what these events are about. There are not really too many events

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where you can line up with the Olympic champions, if we look back

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towards the roundabout, these people are yet to pass the halfway point,

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about 40,000 have gone through five kilometres. Down there somewhere,

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there is Sam Rawcliffe, running in memory of his doubts, who passed

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away a few years ago. All of those people, are they meant to be on the

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other side? They are meant to be where they are, seriously, but

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cystic fibrosis, Lindsay Porter, she is running for the first time today.

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Helen Bull, running for the take heart charity, somebody else for the

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Mac Millan charity, one or two Mac others to mention. There so many

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national charities, disability North, I know that Sue Paxson and

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others are out there, good luck to them raising money for disability

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North, and Helen Stafford running her very first great North run in

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memory of her dad, she is running for age UK who helped them so much

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when they were going through difficult times. All of the way back

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over, the landmarks, looking exactly at where they are, and you can see

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Gateshead Stadium, it goes from the finish line back to Gateshead

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Stadium, which means that is a ten mile queue to get over the finish

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line. At South Shields. We have planned to do that helicopter

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tracking shot for a couple of years but the weather has never been quite

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good enough, and Paula Radcliffe is alongside me, a former record-holder

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of the Great North Run, what is it like to run? It is a brilliant race,

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the atmosphere is really good, when you get there at the start and you

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really feel the energy you get there at the start and you

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making their way along the route, to you get there at the start and you

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South Shields, all of the way along, that is what people come out of

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their houses, sit on their chairs and few drinks and offer you in

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courage and, and then when you get onto the front, in South Shields you

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can see how big the crowds are, it is also being able to say that you

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are taking part in the Great North Run and what it means with the

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history. And the history leading up to today, and the millionth finish,

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it is really quite something? It is a huge occasion to mark the fact

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that 1 million people will have taken part in the Great North Run,

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shared that experience and joined that family of runners. On Thursday

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evening we were both at the opening ceremony on the banks of the Tyne,

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it really was a fitting start to what was a historic weekend? It was

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a really good night, they put on a very, very good show, and they

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should, because Newcastle and the north-east should be very proud of

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what they have achieved. Yes it is all about, the amount of work that

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they have been into but it is about the north-east and how much work

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they have been in. It was a great shows. The opening ceremony, a bit

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later on in the programme, it just shows you how important it is, to

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have the elite races to get people involved in sport? It is important

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to have the elite races and the mass races, people need to have a target

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to work towards, so many people take part in their first five K and ten

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K, people want to move on, but pretty soon they want to try a half

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marathon. When you grow up watching events like the Great North Run, it

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really inspires you, and accomplish your goals. So many people today

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will be turning into this finishing straight, we can see the millionth

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finish, but they will not be aiming for that, they will be aiming for

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their times to check the clock and see what their pace is. It is a good

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point, that this millionth counter, you cannot see it from the other

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side otherwise you would have a queue, you would have a sprint

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finish to see if you could be the millionth finish. We saw two Mac

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very good men and women's you must have been very impressed?

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Yes, ready to attack that mark. She knows from skip the gap very well.

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And I think that she wanted to show that she could get close to that, I

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think this is a tough course, probably tougher than the Barcelona

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core so she had a very strong run, she attacked hard from the beginning

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and was able to maintain that and she ran really well, I think that we

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will see fast runs from her. And Mo Farah ran? Yes part of me was

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thinking that maybe working together with Mike Keegan to try and crack

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that 60 minute mark, he was very tired in the closing stages and was

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not able to do that. And then somebody was almost scared to go

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past. Maybe, when you get that close, it was 60.01, you just want

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to go into that 59 minute territory but it will come. Catching up with

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the elite races, but first of all the wheelchair races with Andrew

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Cotter. The men's and women's wheelchair racers went off together,

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the mens rea was expected to be between Simon Lawson and the two Mac

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Spaniards. There was Geordie Madeira, and it developed into a

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battle between Simon Lawson, and Geordie Madera, Simon Lawson

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finished runner-up, before, and it was Madiera who made his move, and

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it was a fine effort. And in the women's race. It was Shelly Woods.

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Was a long way to rock the rest, we thought it might be a battle between

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Shelly Woods and Jane Jones, but Jane Jones was a long way behind and

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Shelly Woods was winner for a sixth time. There is confirmation of the

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results. First of all thanks for the entertainment in the men's

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wheelchair race, it was really close, Jordi Madeira first of all

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tell me how much you enjoyed it? For me, it is more happy, a perfect day

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for racing. It is a beautiful day, I am happy. Excellent, well done on

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your win, Simon what is it like to be in a duel where you are pushing

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for a prestigious title. It was really good, I haven't been

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able to live with the top guys until today. We shared the work along the

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way, each of us doing a bit at the front. Really pleased with it.

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Does that give you believe going forward? Yes, the bridge is where

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they normally drop me. It gave me a bit of confidence in the race. Well

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done on the victory, Jordi. Congratulations. Shelley,

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congratulations, another Great North Run victory, 6 and counting. How was

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this one? I really enjoyed it. It was tough out there, I wanted to get

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out front, push myself and see what I could do. I was aiming for sub 50,

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I think I just missed it. I was looking on the way and I was close,

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I dug as deep as I could, but, no, it's great to win this race again. I

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love being here, racing in Newcastle, it's great. What is it

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like when you have won it so many times, you have all that experience

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to call on, and you are trying to push yourself to new heights. Are

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you drawing on the memories of the past? Yes, doing this course a few

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times helps. It's a course I really enjoy, it's a tough course. If you

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are really fit and you go out and give it all you can, you can do well

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on this course. I really enjoy it. You draw from past experience. It

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took me a while to win You draw from past experience. It

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Great North Run, I was always chasing Tanni Grey-Thompson and

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Great North Run, I was always Francesco, I was motivated to go

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fast. I tried to raise the boys today. Well, catch some of the boys.

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Once you have got rid of the girls, go as fast as you can. If I go out

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and do my race and go for it, I seem to get the best results. That is

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what I wanted to do today. I just want to say thanks to my coach,

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Jenny Archer, and David Weir who has been working with me this year. It

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has up and down year. This win is for everyone who has believed in me

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so far to help me get to where I am today. Wonderful to see you on top

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of the podium. Congratulations. Thank you.

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. Mary Keitany set herself up very early. Gemma Steel wasn't fazed by

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the pace that was being set by Keitany. Indeed she went past the

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Olympic champion and had a brilliant second place, but at the front it

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was all about Mary Keitany who by one second set a new course record,

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breaking Paula Radcliffe's record which has stood since 2003. For

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Gemma Steel, a big personal best. The third fastest ever time by a

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British woman over the half marathon. Tiki Gelana took third

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spot. A new personal best for Mary

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Keitany. What a future Gemma Steel might have over this distance, and

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perhaps the marathon. The Olympic gold medal marathon runner from 2012

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in third, Tiki Gelana. A great run from Charlotte Purdue in eighth.

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Susan Partridge, 10th in the Great North Run.

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Mary, first of all, congratulations on a new course record, beating

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Paula Radcliffe's old record. What is your reaction? I am happy because

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of the race today, my first time to come to Great North Run, and I am

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happy because at least I have run... Course record of my

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colleague, Paula, of which I was not expecting, but at last I break it so

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I am happy. Also maybe I tell my colleague, sorry, but at least I am

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happy again because I think this is my first half marathon since I come

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from a long break. I thank God for that. It was a wonderful

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performance. How difficult did you find the course today. In Kenya,

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when we are training, we train in a hilly place... Like this one, this

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Great North Run. So I think it never stopped me a lot, but I just go on

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all the way. So the next thing for you, marathon, record in the

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marathon may be as well? For the marathon now, I don't know. Since

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then, I was supposed to come for half marathon to test myself but

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it's OK, I have seen it's OK, so what is now is to go back to Kenya

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for one week and then my manager will tell me if I will have to go

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this season for full marathon or maybe next year in spring. Good luck

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with all those plans and once again well done on a new record today.

:21:27.:21:35.

Thank you so much, also I am happy. Gemma, you talked about your

:21:36.:21:41.

new-found confidence from being in America, taking big chunks off your

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personal best. You have done it again today, how was it? I felt

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comfortable for the first ten miles and picked it up a bit, I left it

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too late to catch Keitany obviously, I didn't want to go off

:21:54.:21:57.

at that pace, when I found that she broke the course record I was glad

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that I didn't. Really pleased, it has been a long time coming. Really

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pleased. Well done, you are also in the top three of all time of British

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half marathon runners. Yeah, that has equalled my ten K time as well,

:22:14.:22:18.

third on that, but to do it in the half marathon as well, it cements my

:22:19.:22:27.

place up there. Road running... I am glad. What about from now on in? You

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are doing amazing things on the half marathon, people are trying to push

:22:34.:22:36.

you to the marathon and you are not so sure. What do you think the

:22:37.:22:41.

future holds? I felt I was doing the right tactics to run the marathon

:22:42.:22:45.

today. A tactical race, just stayed in contention for the first ten

:22:46.:22:50.

miles and didn't do anything silly. The tactics for the marathon are

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instinctively in there, I think, with the survival instincts and

:22:56.:23:00.

everything, not going too fast, pacing myself. I definitely have it

:23:01.:23:03.

in me to do the marathon, I just have to wait until I'm ready to do

:23:04.:23:08.

it and the time is right, really. Today has built my confidence a lot.

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I just need to build on this and make more steps, a few more half

:23:12.:23:16.

marathons consistently running this time... Just basically experimenting

:23:17.:23:23.

with how fast I can go in the half marathon. Like I say, I ran

:23:24.:23:29.

conservatively for the first ten K also today. Just need to have more

:23:30.:23:37.

confidence on that. I can't complain today. You have done wonderfully

:23:38.:23:41.

well, enjoy the experience of being in the top three in Britain all

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time, and good luck going forward. Thank you, cheers.

:23:47.:23:52.

A great performance from Gemma Steel. That paved the way for Mo

:23:53.:23:58.

Farah to follow suit and give us a great British day to celebrate at

:23:59.:24:04.

the Great North Run. Mo looked serene early on, nice and relaxed.

:24:05.:24:08.

The leading group soon whittled down after a fairly pacey start. Ten

:24:09.:24:15.

kilometres, pretty quick pace, 28 minutes 19. It was just the two of

:24:16.:24:22.

them, Kigen and Farah, who would pull clear. It looked at one point

:24:23.:24:26.

as As many as are of the opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no".

:24:27.:24:28.

Might break Mo Farah, but he raised a bit of a sprint. -- it looked at

:24:29.:24:35.

one point as though Kigen would break Mo Farah, but he raised a bit

:24:36.:24:40.

of a sprint. They crossed the line in exactly one hour, a new British

:24:41.:24:46.

best, personal best for Mo Farah. He gets the win that eluded him last

:24:47.:24:54.

year. Both of them given the same time, although there was a yard

:24:55.:25:01.

between them. Stephen Kiprotich, the Olympic marathon champion and world

:25:02.:25:06.

champion, in third place. Another good run for Andy Vernon to round

:25:07.:25:12.

off a great summer. Jonny Hay in ninth place for Great Britain.

:25:13.:25:17.

Well done to Mo Farah, Great North Run champion. Paula, also a great

:25:18.:25:26.

race from Gemma Steel. A very good run. 68 minutes 13, and the way she

:25:27.:25:30.

ran, she wasn't afraid to go with the very fast early pace of America

:25:31.:25:35.

Tani, and was then able to pace the effort right. -- Mary Keitany. She

:25:36.:25:43.

kept the pace going through the finish. She came into today saying

:25:44.:25:46.

she was still scared of the marathon, she needed some

:25:47.:25:50.

confidence, she needs to raise well over the half marathon and that will

:25:51.:25:53.

have done her a lot of good today. -- to race well. You can't move to

:25:54.:25:58.

the marathon until you are ready to attack it, and you want to have that

:25:59.:26:04.

challenge. I think she is moving closer to that point. We are going

:26:05.:26:08.

to continue our build-up to the 1 millionth finisher. The scene was

:26:09.:26:15.

set perfectly with the opening ceremony on Thursday, which included

:26:16.:26:22.

all sorts of north-east royalty, Sting, Jimmy nail, we grab them for

:26:23.:26:31.

a few of their thoughts. I was in Northumberland County Championship

:26:32.:26:34.

100 yards in 1966. I haven't run since. I have run the Great North

:26:35.:26:41.

Run quite a few times, quite a while ago, ten years ago. I have a couple

:26:42.:26:48.

of medals in my drawer. You have got the legs for it. Thank you. I have

:26:49.:26:57.

painful memories, I shook hands with thousands of people, I ended up with

:26:58.:27:00.

a blister and I couldn't play the guitar for a month! But it was

:27:01.:27:07.

great. Pain. You see the sea and you think, thank God, it's over, and

:27:08.:27:11.

then you get to the seaside and there is a dogleg to the left and

:27:12.:27:17.

there is about another mile. That last mile, a lot of swearing

:27:18.:27:21.

involved in the last mile. It's such a famous race worldwide. The 1

:27:22.:27:31.

millionth this weekend, it's a huge achievement. We are happy to be a

:27:32.:27:37.

part of it, support it, we love Tyneside, proud to be of the

:27:38.:27:41.

community and do anything when we are asked. I just saw a salmon

:27:42.:27:45.

rising in the middle of the time. As I child -- a child it used to be

:27:46.:27:52.

called the Black River, to see a salmon in the River Tyne is really

:27:53.:27:57.

inspiring. There could be a song in it.

:27:58.:28:05.

I feel you need a bit of support. I can't figure of anyone I would

:28:06.:28:13.

rather have support me! You look wonderful in your getup, Minnie

:28:14.:28:17.

mouse, looking beautiful. Tell us why you are dressed like that. I am

:28:18.:28:21.

running for Saint Oswald 's Hospital in Gosforth, I have run -- I have

:28:22.:28:27.

won this for 22 years. Some people know me as Minnie and I have stopped

:28:28.:28:33.

and said people to say hello along the route. I don't know them but

:28:34.:28:38.

they are always there. You have done 22. I have done 22 in this, 34

:28:39.:28:46.

altogether. So you have done them all, while! You might be the 1

:28:47.:28:52.

millionth runner. That would be fab. Lovely to meet you.

:28:53.:28:57.

Hats off to that lady, or should I say loan s off? Taking on the half

:28:58.:29:08.

marathon is no easy challenge. -- ears off?

:29:09.:29:15.

I have got a coma, it's -- I have got to our coma, and eye condition.

:29:16.:29:32.

My dad has also got glaucoma, he is totally blind, so have my brother

:29:33.:29:38.

and sister. We have been unlucky, really. I thought it was just me, it

:29:39.:29:43.

would have been harder to cope growing up, but knowing other people

:29:44.:29:47.

are going through it with me makes it easy. They learn a lot from us,

:29:48.:29:54.

we teach them a lot. They get a lot of support. There's always somebody

:29:55.:30:03.

worse off than us. That is true. People can talk to you differently

:30:04.:30:07.

at first because people don't understand that physical disability

:30:08.:30:10.

is different from mental disability. They assume you can't do anything

:30:11.:30:16.

when that's not true. I am studying IT at Newcastle College, I got a

:30:17.:30:20.

distinction on my year one, I year two in December. So I know a or two.

:30:21.:30:28.

I couldn't be any prouder. -- I know a thing or two. They are doing

:30:29.:30:36.

really well. Just having a cup of tea, we heard the Great North Run on

:30:37.:30:39.

the radio, we thought, oh, wouldn't it be good to do it? We talked

:30:40.:30:45.

ourselves into it. Me, my dad, my sister, we had a conversation,

:30:46.:30:49.

thinking, we could do that. And then, we could, became, why not? It

:30:50.:30:58.

has snowballed. Being totally blind, I won't be running on my own, that's

:30:59.:31:03.

for sure. Without they support of a guide... It is a matter of me and

:31:04.:31:17.

the guide working together. It is just a matter of working together

:31:18.:31:19.

and getting your pace right. It is great. I think running with a

:31:20.:31:29.

guide really helps, not only because of the site aspect but also running

:31:30.:31:34.

support, because if you have got somebody saying come on. It is a

:31:35.:31:38.

simple thing but it is ready nice having someone encouraging you. It

:31:39.:31:45.

is a really good charity, the support that useful vision provide

:31:46.:31:49.

is definitely a lot more essential when you are growing up, because you

:31:50.:31:50.

are needing all of that, all of the

:31:51.:32:02.

stories, about other families. You are sopping stories. We need more

:32:03.:32:09.

fun than what you are getting, -- swapping stories. Because the work

:32:10.:32:13.

does deserve it. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, I'm not nervous

:32:14.:32:18.

but I'm excited. I'm feeling really nervous about actually doing it, I

:32:19.:32:21.

am a little bit excited about finishing it, but it is mainly just

:32:22.:32:27.

nervous at this point. But even if I had to walk or crawl, I will finish

:32:28.:32:32.

it. Thinking about the people who will benefit it. At the end I think

:32:33.:32:38.

I will just feel really pleased, that I have managed to do something

:32:39.:32:52.

for someone else. It is a lovely day out here and I have got two Mac

:32:53.:32:56.

people who are so enthusiastic and enjoying the atmosphere, Darren and

:32:57.:33:02.

Angela, how is it going? It is going not too bad, I think that we are

:33:03.:33:08.

trying to keep a steady pace, but we are not doing too bad. We are doing

:33:09.:33:12.

really well, we are on target for under four hours and we were looking

:33:13.:33:19.

for five hours initially. The public has been amazing, people have been

:33:20.:33:24.

cheering us on, people who don't know me also cheering. But, everyone

:33:25.:33:30.

is so supportive and it has been amazing. He has been loving it, we

:33:31.:33:37.

are going to do it next year? Yes we are definitely going to try I think,

:33:38.:33:43.

more training definitely for next year. Yes. Brilliant job that you

:33:44.:33:49.

are doing, it will be fantastic, I don't know where you are amongst the

:33:50.:33:50.

group but you are doing OK. You are doing all right.

:33:51.:34:03.

We saw Colin speaking queue at the start, a special day, the millionth

:34:04.:34:08.

finish, how was the atmosphere? It was amazing, it was very special I

:34:09.:34:13.

think all so for Mo Farah at the front and some people at the back,

:34:14.:34:21.

cheering everyone on. I got called Steve and Matthew if you times but

:34:22.:34:26.

apart from that it was OK. How did you do personally, I know that you

:34:27.:34:30.

are trying to better your personal best? I guess I had an acceptability

:34:31.:34:36.

of 125, I knew I could do that and then I went for 120, I think I was

:34:37.:34:46.

between 120 and 121, it is the sharp end of what I wanted and if you are

:34:47.:34:50.

that close to breaking your barrier then it is a bit annoying. I saw Mo

:34:51.:34:53.

Farah doing his interview, he that at I said I lost you at about

:34:54.:35:03.

five miles, where did you come? And he said I won! You have done more

:35:04.:35:10.

than OK for the charity, it is something dear to your heart, it

:35:11.:35:19.

keeps you moving on? Absolutely, I passed a party last night, I gave

:35:20.:35:23.

them some tips so you may see them blowing up halfway across the

:35:24.:35:25.

course. It is an unseen injury, blowing up halfway across the

:35:26.:35:35.

takes a lot of support, for the family and the victim of a trauma

:35:36.:35:40.

injury or an illness. Great to see you always, thank you. No, thank

:35:41.:35:49.

you. Marines have been carrying the flag all of the way from the start.

:35:50.:35:55.

We are standing by to get them and they cross the line. The Royal

:35:56.:36:00.

Marines to give them their full title, proudly carrying this flag,

:36:01.:36:05.

it is a big year for the Royal Marine celebrating 350 years, as

:36:06.:36:09.

ever they are looking like they have just been out for a bit of a canter

:36:10.:36:14.

on the moors, in terms of exercises, this must rank as one of

:36:15.:36:18.

the easiest things they do but what an honour for them and what a great

:36:19.:36:22.

job they do. Some of them running in standard issue boots as well, hard

:36:23.:36:28.

on the feet. But they are used to it. The hardest of men. A great

:36:29.:36:32.

honour, they have been pointed in the right direction, the band are

:36:33.:36:36.

standing by. Some of them look a bit fresher than the others, some are

:36:37.:36:40.

wearing trainers, some are in full military garb. It has been a

:36:41.:36:49.

tremendous procession from them. We talk about military position, I have

:36:50.:36:53.

a horrible feeling that the marines who carry the flag, they are on the

:36:54.:37:00.

wrong side. We just hopefully, it is all coordinated. There they are, I

:37:01.:37:05.

think that they are in the right place as you would expect. And the

:37:06.:37:12.

salute for them will be I am sure roundly cheered by the huge crowds

:37:13.:37:17.

here. In South Shields. There is the flag. That will be presented, in

:37:18.:37:23.

maybe one hour or so, when the 1,000,000th finish crosses the line,

:37:24.:37:27.

they will have the honour of receiving this flag. Well it was a

:37:28.:37:42.

short but sweet fanfare. Well done to them, they do not look as though

:37:43.:37:45.

they had even broken sweat, as you would expect, fine physical

:37:46.:37:50.

specimens. Well done to the Royal Marines. Let us just have a look at

:37:51.:37:54.

what else they have been doing to celebrate their 350th year. 2014 is

:37:55.:38:10.

that 350th anniversary of the robbery in so I decided to create a

:38:11.:38:14.

challenge that would be fitting to celebrate that, in true commando

:38:15.:38:18.

style, that is by physical and mental exertion. Each element of the

:38:19.:38:23.

challenge, I tried to devise it to equal 1664, tours or miles, that was

:38:24.:38:29.

when the call was formed. The motto means by sea and by land. The 6064

:38:30.:38:36.

challenge tries to encapsulate that, it was to ski the length of

:38:37.:38:40.

Norway, from southern Norway we sailed to the south of Spain, 1666

:38:41.:38:48.

miles, we then cycles the length of France and Spain to the channel,

:38:49.:38:54.

1666, and then we did Normandie to Portsmouth. We then ran over the

:38:55.:39:01.

course of two Mac months, 1664: Matters. The challenge was tough, it

:39:02.:39:08.

was meant to be tough, being in the robbery and was all about being

:39:09.:39:13.

tough and the will to succeed -- being in the Royal Marines. They

:39:14.:39:17.

were skilled and determined to do it and they cracked on, that is what

:39:18.:39:22.

raw marines do, they cracked on, they did it with courage and

:39:23.:39:26.

determination, with cheerfulness in some pretty difficult situations.

:39:27.:39:32.

The Royal Marines trust fund is why we did this, they support breathed

:39:33.:39:37.

families, service personnel, especially following Iraqi and

:39:38.:39:44.

Afghanistan. Also the fulcrum is an dating back to World War II, there

:39:45.:39:49.

are veterans around, you cannot just forget them. That is what the Rome

:39:50.:39:51.

arena -- warm greens trust fund is about.

:39:52.:40:04.

Over 4200 Royal Marines, took part in the challenge in one week. Six

:40:05.:40:11.

guys did the whole challenge. That is absolutely remarkable and

:40:12.:40:14.

extraordinary, I am very proud of all six of them. I was chosen for

:40:15.:40:20.

endurance, my own attitude, I enjoy getting up every day and carrying on

:40:21.:40:22.

with the task. I think it was mental, I

:40:23.:40:30.

suppose the most physically demanding aspect was the jury

:40:31.:40:33.

should, it is like running a marathon every day for six months.

:40:34.:40:42.

Knowing that we were helping breed families and veterans, that was a

:40:43.:40:45.

strong motivation for each of us and when we did not feel like getting up

:40:46.:40:51.

and skiing 25 miles, it was on those days that the charity kicked in and

:40:52.:40:58.

drove us and motivated a. I have been in the ROM greens 35 years, --

:40:59.:41:05.

Royal Marines, throughout my career I have been immensely proud to be

:41:06.:41:10.

part of it and it has been very honouring for me to organise the

:41:11.:41:16.

1664 challenge which has been the pinnacle of my career. It is a huge

:41:17.:41:23.

privilege for us to lead of the great North run, and complete this

:41:24.:41:34.

amazing event together. Congratulations on a tremendous

:41:35.:41:37.

performance, from your perspective, what was it like on the course? It

:41:38.:41:46.

was brilliant, 13 miles, it was brewing to hear the rules every

:41:47.:41:51.

time. The flag, it has been one of the biggest occasions, it was a big

:41:52.:41:55.

occasion for the Royal Marines, also raising a lot of money for a great

:41:56.:42:02.

cause? That is right, we are raising attention for the fact that the

:42:03.:42:06.

Royal Marines had a huge number of wounded in Afghanistan and we need

:42:07.:42:11.

to look after them for life, we need about ?1.5 million to support an

:42:12.:42:16.

amputee through life, and these guys have supported the core and the

:42:17.:42:20.

charity, and we are confident that we can raise the money. I just

:42:21.:42:27.

wonder in this special anniversary, is there a greater warmth than ever

:42:28.:42:34.

in the crowd for you? Yes, we ran 1664 kilometres all around the UK

:42:35.:42:38.

and we got a great reception, there was a lot of awareness of what the

:42:39.:42:44.

Royal Marines do. Thank you very much, for carrying the flag, thank

:42:45.:42:53.

you. Thanks a lot, Cheers. Ladies it is great that you have stopped, it

:42:54.:43:00.

must be easy for you? We are missing mile five, have we passed it? . It

:43:01.:43:08.

is that way. Tell us about George charity? We are running for the

:43:09.:43:14.

Nolan trust, for people who suffer from leukaemia, and we are in

:43:15.:43:17.

courage in people to be on the bone marrow transplant

:43:18.:43:20.

courage in people to be on the bone memory of my dad, who we lost to

:43:21.:43:26.

leukaemia. I have never seen people so happy at halfway? Well we have

:43:27.:43:35.

seen actual Colin. We are really enjoying it. And a big shout out to

:43:36.:43:44.

Tom and to everybody at home. That way, way that way. And I am near the

:43:45.:43:51.

finish line, you can see that the runners are coming through thick and

:43:52.:43:55.

fast, the atmosphere is simply incredible, it has been a record

:43:56.:43:59.

number of people taking part in the North run this year, and if you just

:44:00.:44:04.

look up there, you can see the counter is ticking over, as we

:44:05.:44:12.

prepare, for the millionth finish. It is very exciting, but who will it

:44:13.:44:22.

be? We will have two wait and see. That was the actual Denise Lewis,

:44:23.:44:27.

I'm giving her a wave, about one hour to go out we think until the

:44:28.:44:32.

millionth finish, and now hospital stories always feature large in the

:44:33.:44:36.

great North run, so many people running because they are indebted to

:44:37.:44:41.

that, somebody wants to say thank you to the Freeman Hospital in

:44:42.:44:46.

Newcastle, and for what they did to her son. My name is Abigail Haynes

:44:47.:44:52.

and I'm running for the children's heart unit fund for the freedom

:44:53.:44:59.

Hospital in Newcastle. I am running because they saved my son Charlie's

:45:00.:45:04.

like, he has had two Mac open-heart surgeries and he's only two and he's

:45:05.:45:12.

only two and a half years old. MUSIC we had no idea what was wrong with

:45:13.:45:17.

him, but when he would eat, his lips were turning blue. And within the

:45:18.:45:23.

month, he was having open-heart surgery. They really encourage the

:45:24.:45:32.

kids to recover, they were encouraging him to go up to the

:45:33.:45:41.

playroom and play. Paddy Walshe from the Freeman Hospital, she is the

:45:42.:45:44.

liaison and she can't do enough to help. She is an incredible woman. We

:45:45.:45:53.

pride ourselves in the Children's Heart Unit Fund that we have a team

:45:54.:45:57.

that worked extremely well together and make it as easy as possible for

:45:58.:46:06.

the child. It is very tight-knit, the nurses remember you, they have

:46:07.:46:10.

these awesome activities and it gets kids happy and a bit of normality

:46:11.:46:16.

back into their life. A lot of people think that if your child is

:46:17.:46:21.

coming back in for repeated ad missions, maybe it gets easier

:46:22.:46:26.

because you get used to it, but as any parent will tell you, the older

:46:27.:46:29.

the child gets, the more stressful it gets in hospital. Charlie isn't

:46:30.:46:36.

out of the woods yet, but it's really comfortable to know that the

:46:37.:46:40.

Freeman Hospital is going to be there and Charlie is going to get

:46:41.:46:43.

the best care and they will give him the best treatment. A huge personal

:46:44.:46:52.

change that I made in my life after Charlie being ill, I was determined

:46:53.:46:58.

to lose some weight. It made us realise, who am I to abuse this body

:46:59.:47:03.

that is healthy? Charlie has done nothing wrong and he has got this

:47:04.:47:08.

broken body that needs fixing. I lost nearly eight stone. I promised

:47:09.:47:13.

myself I would run the Great North Run. Every year, we have parents who

:47:14.:47:19.

put themselves through the trauma of the Great North Run to raise money

:47:20.:47:23.

for the Children's Heart Unit Fund. We are just so grateful. I certainly

:47:24.:47:28.

wouldn't have been as determined if I didn't have such an awesome cause

:47:29.:47:33.

to run for. Seeing Charlie getting healthier and healthier everyday

:47:34.:47:39.

because of them, it has been what's pushed us.

:47:40.:47:45.

Abigail, an inspiration to all of us, and best of luck to her little

:47:46.:47:53.

one. The Great North Run has turned into a great North weekend. We will

:47:54.:47:59.

look back to yesterday, and this great -- and the great North city

:48:00.:48:05.

games. A great sense of fun in the 150 metres. Asha Phillip took the

:48:06.:48:09.

race ahead of Allyson Felix and Jodie Williams. A great run from a

:48:10.:48:15.

woman who was part of the record-breaking relay team.

:48:16.:48:20.

Christine Ohuruogu ran the rarely run 500 metres, beating Eilidh Child

:48:21.:48:26.

and Lynsey Sharp. Another Olympic champion, Greg Rutherford. He said

:48:27.:48:31.

he had a bit of man flu, but he ended up taking the long jump on the

:48:32.:48:36.

Newcastle side of the quayside. That was the great North city games.

:48:37.:48:41.

There was also the mile races, the junior run as well. Tina was there,

:48:42.:48:48.

she has the story. The Great North Run weekend is a festival of sport

:48:49.:48:52.

for the whole family. There is something for everyone and this is

:48:53.:48:57.

also where you might find the Mo Farahs of the future. Thousands of

:48:58.:49:01.

children aged between three and 16 taking part in the junior races.

:49:02.:49:06.

What is the best thing about being here today? I like running! Running.

:49:07.:49:14.

Getting medals and running. How do you think you're going to get on

:49:15.:49:19.

today? Good, yeah, because we are best friends. After the

:49:20.:49:27.

3-8-year-olds go in the mini race, the juniors go and there is a

:49:28.:49:32.

special group in the 9-16 -year-olds.

:49:33.:49:39.

Oliver is an amazing young man. Nine years old. When he was ball he was

:49:40.:49:48.

diagnosed with a brain tumour. He had radiotherapy and chemotherapy

:49:49.:49:53.

and thought that one. In January this year, his Juma came back. --

:49:54.:49:57.

his tumour came back. When he had his operation in

:49:58.:50:08.

February, the children wanted to do something that would show Oliver how

:50:09.:50:13.

much they loved and supported him. A few of the children came up with

:50:14.:50:17.

different ideas and suggestions, none of them could really agree on

:50:18.:50:21.

one thing until one of the children said, why don't we run the Great

:50:22.:50:24.

North Run? That's how the story started.

:50:25.:50:34.

It grew from just a few of his friends in his class to his whole

:50:35.:50:47.

class to other classes and it really evolved into this huge army of 135

:50:48.:50:52.

children. We started a 12 week programme and it's been an

:50:53.:50:56.

incredible emotional journey, as well as physical. And now we are

:50:57.:51:00.

accomplishing the four K and we are going to run that on Sunday.

:51:01.:51:11.

Oliver is an inspiration to all of the children who come along and

:51:12.:51:16.

support him. He is a complete fighter. No matter how we feel, we

:51:17.:51:21.

take our inspiration from Oliver. He is a great character, he's so

:51:22.:51:34.

funny. He makes us laugh at times when maybe we shouldn't laugh. He is

:51:35.:51:40.

just the best character, a real fun loving young man.

:51:41.:51:50.

It's been inspirational, emotional, very rewarding. Something that we

:51:51.:52:04.

will continue to do. Oliver 's Army will run in the Great North Run next

:52:05.:52:08.

year, and the year after, and the year after. We have started, and

:52:09.:52:13.

this is just really the beginning. Some of the children are going to

:52:14.:52:17.

shave their hair for the race, that includes boys and girls, and they

:52:18.:52:20.

are just a great inspirational bunch of selfless children who just wanted

:52:21.:52:25.

to show Oliver as much support and as much love as they could.

:52:26.:52:36.

What do you think the best thing is about the Great North Run? The

:52:37.:52:50.

runners, all my friends. Having fun? Yes. Getting fit? Mm-hm. What else?

:52:51.:53:00.

Raising lots of money for charity? Mm-hm. Oliver and myself have been

:53:01.:53:10.

overwhelmed by all of the support. The support all parents have given,

:53:11.:53:16.

both to Oliver and ourselves, but the charity as well. We wanted to

:53:17.:53:21.

really just say a huge thank you to everybody who has donated money, and

:53:22.:53:24.

especially thanks to the children and the adults who are actually

:53:25.:53:28.

going to run. I think we are looking forward to a nice big party on

:53:29.:53:32.

Sunday night as well, aren't we? Had you got any dance moves? Yeah!

:53:33.:53:42.

Oliver, how does it feel to have so much support here today? Very good.

:53:43.:53:50.

Some of your friends have shaved their hair, how much does that mean

:53:51.:53:57.

to you? It means a lot, that they care about us. They don't want me to

:53:58.:54:05.

be the only one without hair. You are an inspiration to us, all of

:54:06.:54:09.

you. I think you should give yourselves a big cheer. Olly, Olly,

:54:10.:54:22.

Olly! He is a popular chap. We can look at pictures of him yesterday,

:54:23.:54:27.

competing in the mini run. Very, very brave indeed. As Tina was

:54:28.:54:32.

saying, an inspiration to us all and he deserves a huge round of

:54:33.:54:37.

applause, running for Click Sergeant. We were just hearing a

:54:38.:54:46.

wonderful story about Abigail and the Freeman Hospital running for her

:54:47.:54:50.

son Charlie, and she has made it to halfway, with Colin. You feel nice

:54:51.:54:56.

and strong, you must be having a good run. I am enjoying it, feeling

:54:57.:55:01.

better than I thought I would. I thought I was a couple of miles

:55:02.:55:06.

back, so I am happy. Yellow people people are saying the support has

:55:07.:55:12.

been fantastic, have you felt it? It has been amazing. How much money do

:55:13.:55:20.

you think you have raised? A lot, a few hundred pounds, which to me is a

:55:21.:55:30.

lot. Well done indeed. I have some bad news, though. The finish is a

:55:31.:55:33.

couple of miles that way. I will see you there. Chow! She was there or

:55:34.:55:45.

thereabouts, halfway. We have had 12,233 kilometres at the

:55:46.:56:06.

finish line... They carry on streaming down the seafront at South

:56:07.:56:12.

Shields. Craig Pugh, John Adams, well done, guys, running for the

:56:13.:56:17.

British Heart Foundation. Laura McEwan, running for Mind. Others

:56:18.:56:25.

running for leukaemia and lymphoma research. Derek Jackson dressed as a

:56:26.:56:30.

gorilla. David Blair, running for Mind. Alexander Scott, running for

:56:31.:56:35.

that great charity the teenage Cancer trust. Katie, running for

:56:36.:56:44.

eating disorders. Jeff Harwood, for Gemma's Hospice in Leeds. People

:56:45.:56:52.

coming to the assistance of runners who have found it tough going, but

:56:53.:56:55.

everyone getting to the finishing line. Some of the celebrities... Oh

:56:56.:56:59.

dear, there is a man running in front of me with nothing but a pair

:57:00.:57:03.

of speedos, which I will raise from my memory with heavy drinking! Black

:57:04.:57:11.

and white stripes. You really hated them! James Cracknell, as we saw, 1

:57:12.:57:19.

hour 20 minutes 55. He has gone sub three hours in marathons before.

:57:20.:57:23.

Kevin Kilbane, a favourite player of Steve's, a former Sunderland player

:57:24.:57:27.

I'm on many other clubs, one hour 32 minutes 50. -- among many others.

:57:28.:57:35.

Ewan Thomas has gone backwards this year, one hour 46, it catches up

:57:36.:57:40.

with us all! Greg James, the DJ, lots of help from the sponsors, he

:57:41.:57:46.

was looking to go below two hours. One hour 54 minutes 29, well done,

:57:47.:57:55.

Greg. I am sure you and Thomas will have a word with you afterwards. Ian

:57:56.:57:59.

Gordon is running for Marie Curie Cancer Care. He has done ten

:58:00.:58:14.

space-bar ten Ks. -- he has done ten ten Ks, dressed as a Mexican

:58:15.:58:20.

wrestler. I have no idea what that looks like. I do. Ashley, running

:58:21.:58:31.

for Kid Scan. Emma and Michael, running for Parkinson 's. Mark for

:58:32.:58:37.

the bedroom or Cancer fund. Mark Wells, running for cardiac risk in

:58:38.:58:43.

the young. He won a bronze in the double sculls in Beijing. George,

:58:44.:58:47.

running for Sue Ryder. Kelly, leukaemia research. So they flood

:58:48.:58:57.

through, and they will do for a good couple of hours yet. We will be here

:58:58.:59:01.

for the 1 millionth finisher, we are trying to work out when that will

:59:02.:59:06.

be. I have to stress, there is no ticker on the side as the runners

:59:07.:59:13.

come down, so they can't lurk there. They are going up in fives and

:59:14.:59:17.

sixes, so it would be very difficult to make saw you were exactly the 1

:59:18.:59:22.

millionth finisher. You would have to come out within view of someone

:59:23.:59:28.

who could relate it to you to have any chance of trying to judge it.

:59:29.:59:32.

But most people will be going for their own personal bests to get

:59:33.:59:36.

under the two hours mark, to get under two hours ten, so to be honest

:59:37.:59:41.

I don't think they will be overly concerned about whether they are the

:59:42.:59:45.

1 millionth finisher, it's just taking part in the race that sees

:59:46.:59:50.

the 1 millionth finisher cross the line. It's great to see you again.

:59:51.:59:59.

Fourth year you have been running this event. I know it means so much

:00:00.:00:05.

to you. Absolutely, fourth year running, blue skies, absolutely

:00:06.:00:09.

wonderful to be running not just by myself but a super team behind me,

:00:10.:00:12.

who are all here to raise money for our charity, the John Eggen trust.

:00:13.:00:19.

Fantastic to be here. How has the atmosphere been on this historic

:00:20.:00:23.

day? It is my first Great North Run, the atmosphere has been great.

:00:24.:00:32.

It was tough conditions today in the sun. It was a bit warm, yes all of

:00:33.:00:41.

the way around, it was great support and it got you through it, it was

:00:42.:00:47.

brilliant. Great to see you looking fresh top who I date the lit but

:00:48.:00:54.

thank you very much. Remarkable scenes, people streaming behind me

:00:55.:00:58.

as they make their way towards the parity village, it is a sea of

:00:59.:01:05.

humanity, tens and tens of thousands. 978,000, that thing will

:01:06.:01:13.

overheat I think soon. Hopefully not before it gets to 1 million. It all

:01:14.:01:20.

began before the opening ceremony. Is

:01:21.:01:25.

the world 's greatest half marathon. I enjoy it, I want to come back each

:01:26.:01:38.

year. I remember doing it when I was 19 years old and it completely blew

:01:39.:01:47.

me away. You know the Great North Run, is more than a run. When you

:01:48.:01:51.

come here and compete, it is something lovely. This Sunday, the

:01:52.:02:02.

1,000,000th runner will pass the finishing line. We never believed

:02:03.:02:16.

that we would reach this number, we never aimed that we would reach this

:02:17.:02:25.

number. It is quite an achievement. We won. We have beaten New York, and

:02:26.:02:52.

Boston marathons, within next hour we will see the millionth finish, we

:02:53.:02:56.

will probably also really the opening ceremony from Thursday

:02:57.:03:01.

night, things do not happen by accident, let us meet the creative

:03:02.:03:24.

geniuses behind it. MUSIC I was first approached by Brendan Foster,

:03:25.:03:28.

who asked me to go and meet Bradley Hemmings who was correcting the

:03:29.:03:32.

whole thing, I went to meet him on the banks of the

:03:33.:03:35.

Tying. And I sat up and I wondered what this thing was, somebody was

:03:36.:03:46.

jumping into the river and I thought the river is sending a message you

:03:47.:03:51.

have got to do this thing. I'm very excited to be working in what is

:03:52.:03:57.

this extraordinary and incomparable arena, it contains the most

:03:58.:04:00.

beautiful bridges in the world and unlike a traditional opening

:04:01.:04:04.

ceremony which takes place in a stadium that could be almost

:04:05.:04:08.

anywhere, this one is an absolute icon, it is a stadium that is bigger

:04:09.:04:12.

than an Olympic stadium which includes these iconic buildings and

:04:13.:04:16.

objects, bridges that we can play with, fantastic. When I was crossing

:04:17.:04:27.

the river as a kid, of course I never thought of it as an arena but

:04:28.:04:32.

then when I thought there is going to be this event, you realised, this

:04:33.:04:36.

must be one of the world 's great arenas between the wonderful Tyne

:04:37.:04:40.

Bridge and the millennium Bridge, it has got the boats and the wonderful

:04:41.:04:45.

quayside, and you have got the water itself, what better setting could

:04:46.:04:49.

you have for a place like this, it is an extraordinary setting. The

:04:50.:04:59.

1,000,000th finish is an extraordinary global first for the

:05:00.:05:03.

north-east, so going from the dawn of time, right through to the

:05:04.:05:08.

1,000,000th, we look at the unique happenings in the north-east, we

:05:09.:05:12.

talk about Armstrong and the extraordinary traditions of

:05:13.:05:15.

engineering, shipbuilding, and we also tell the story of Joseph Swan

:05:16.:05:21.

and the worlds first light bulb which was created in Gateshead. Of

:05:22.:05:25.

course it is not finished, just like a run, you keep on running, thereof

:05:26.:05:28.

1 million runners who keep on running, and it is energy

:05:29.:05:40.

that takes us into the future. It is a fairly big brief to create and

:05:41.:05:44.

capture the magic of the Great North Run. We have heard something of the

:05:45.:05:49.

concept, but what about the execution? We will bring you the

:05:50.:05:54.

ceremony in four parts, told the beginning and the history of the

:05:55.:05:58.

north-east from the beginning of time, narrated by a couple of

:05:59.:06:09.

north-east luminaries. Five, four, three, two, one X Commissioner

:06:10.:06:26.

listen to this Northern light, listen to this voice, I am the voice

:06:27.:06:34.

upon the air, between the water and the stars, I am the voice between

:06:35.:06:43.

salmon and the lark, I cross the bridges, pound the streets, link

:06:44.:06:52.

this gleaming modern city to the ancient shining sea, I sing the

:06:53.:07:02.

music of the ever turning Earth, and the common tongue. And the lads and

:07:03.:07:11.

lasses, and the voice of others, I am me and I am you, I am every

:07:12.:07:18.

single one of us, I am the millionth runner, I am all of the runners gone

:07:19.:07:21.

before and all of the runners still to come, run with me now,

:07:22.:07:28.

leap like a salmon, dance like water and shine like stars, open your

:07:29.:07:35.

heart and sing with me now and run with Michu when the running started.

:07:36.:07:41.

-- run with me to the run has begun, it is the

:07:42.:08:52.

birthing place of all that is, darkness is the source of all that

:08:53.:09:02.

is light, and just watch them come, creations fragments, scattering,

:09:03.:09:07.

blazing, boiling, running, they dance the dance of space and time,

:09:08.:09:15.

they sing the song of everything, nebulae, galaxies and solar

:09:16.:09:20.

systems, and the planets and their moons, and now, gorgeous spinning

:09:21.:09:29.

Earth, this land, water, air and light, and then this north. This

:09:30.:09:31.

lovely North. ATMOSPHERIC Speak in it with me, now before the

:09:32.:11:10.

city with the lads and the lasses, great big forests, swampy things of

:11:11.:11:16.

wondrous trees. Their roots in clouds. The sun blazes down, with

:11:17.:11:28.

fire and leaves and stems and trunks. Nothing can last forever,

:11:29.:11:37.

all must move and change, forests fall and turn to pulp. Pulp crushes

:11:38.:11:45.

pulp, and turns to stone, to Perth itself, and deeper down it goes. --

:11:46.:11:53.

to Earth. Down into the dark. It has gone. It is lost. Is this what is

:11:54.:12:05.

called destruction? Leave the black and light down there for now. Run

:12:06.:12:15.

quickly on with me, see time with ships, sea beasts

:12:16.:12:19.

that crawl and walk and climb. Sing songs, sing stories of the bards, B

:12:20.:12:31.

fired, into this present world. Speak the script of Jarrow Steed,

:12:32.:12:42.

seeing with Edith on Lindisfarne, the patient civilise who makes Marx,

:12:43.:12:47.

forms words, casts glorious light upon his pages. Eliminating the

:12:48.:12:56.

whole world from his cell on a tiny island, by a northern shore.

:12:57.:13:22.

DRAMATIC MUSIC I hear them come, Barbarians, see them pour across the

:13:23.:13:40.

sea into the Tyne, see them with blazing swords, setting blazing,

:13:41.:13:59.

turning dark. At! You think you have got us but you are wrong, you don't

:14:00.:14:06.

destroy us, trudging through the ages, telling us that we are

:14:07.:14:16.

finished, that we are done, hear this, where we are is only to

:14:17.:14:23.

prepare for where we go, to prepare us for what we will do. Step aside,

:14:24.:14:35.

let us through. That is the song to sing in chorus, as a million of us

:14:36.:14:41.

run through time, creation is quicker than destruction's dread,

:14:42.:14:48.

it's Clint is brighter than that blew. We will not be caught and

:14:49.:14:56.

overcome, we will not be destroyed. Dance on, run, on.

:14:57.:15:33.

That was just part one, three more to come. Brendan, the good thing

:15:34.:15:39.

about watching it back, everything you missed when you were there, you

:15:40.:15:44.

think, did that happen? It looks like Disneyland. A beautiful

:15:45.:15:48.

evening, stunning. What a great job but Bradley Hemmings did. He is a

:15:49.:15:57.

renowned production guy. He did the opening of the Paralympics and we

:15:58.:16:00.

were very fortunate he responded to the idea of coming here and doing

:16:01.:16:04.

that. And the beautiful words by David Armen, the award-winning

:16:05.:16:09.

writer from the North of England. The video was stunning. And Tim

:16:10.:16:18.

Healy... And the lesser names like Sting, Mark Knopfler, pretty

:16:19.:16:24.

inspiring really! You look at the counter and you were worried there

:16:25.:16:28.

were not enough digits, but I think we are OK! Over half the field have

:16:29.:16:34.

finished, and the 1 millionth finisher is somewhere between 15 K

:16:35.:16:42.

and 20 K. They can't see the counter, which is quite good, but it

:16:43.:16:49.

is looking good. Pretty exciting. Your emotions, I guess, as that

:16:50.:16:55.

counts up towards 1 million. When you are an athlete, you aim for

:16:56.:16:59.

things and you try to do things, you get emotionally tied up in being the

:17:00.:17:04.

best you can be. But this was not a race we entered until a year or so

:17:05.:17:07.

ago. We didn't know there was a target for 1 million. We pretty much

:17:08.:17:15.

embraced it in the last few months, the last year. It's pretty exciting,

:17:16.:17:22.

but what is great is athletics, our sport, combining elite athletes like

:17:23.:17:27.

Mo Farah, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Bringing those

:17:28.:17:30.

two worlds together, our sport is pretty unique in doing that. If this

:17:31.:17:37.

gives some status to the mass participation world, then to be

:17:38.:17:43.

honest that's for good. If you watch people in the Olympics, you know you

:17:44.:17:46.

can't do that, but if you watch somebody in the London Marathon, the

:17:47.:17:49.

Great North Run, you think, maybe I could do that. If sport could be

:17:50.:17:53.

more inclusive and open its arms to more people, it is good for the

:17:54.:18:01.

nation. It is. A couple of BBC Breakfast presenters have finished,

:18:02.:18:04.

Bill Turnbull and Steph McGovern have been speaking separately to

:18:05.:18:10.

Phil and Denise. If it wasn't bad enough to get up at the crack of

:18:11.:18:17.

dawn to do Breakfast, Bill does this time and again, the Manchester run,

:18:18.:18:21.

here, marathons. It is one today, does it take its toll? I was worried

:18:22.:18:28.

early, but it clouded up halfway around and it was OK. It was all

:18:29.:18:37.

right in the end. The north-east is known for its warm welcome and it

:18:38.:18:42.

seems better than ever, this 1 millionth finisher weekend. No gaps

:18:43.:18:49.

today, people are always great. Very emotional experience. Considering

:18:50.:18:55.

who we are running for today. They really kept us going, terrific,

:18:56.:19:02.

really enjoyed it. Tell us the story if you can gather yourself for a

:19:03.:19:06.

second, I know it is an emotional time. Allison was our editor last

:19:07.:19:11.

year, she died of cancer and we miss her very much. 20 of us have run

:19:12.:19:17.

today to raise money in her honour, really. Running, you always get a

:19:18.:19:22.

bit emotional... Sorry. I was thinking about her on the way round

:19:23.:19:25.

and I never got to tell her how much I loved her and admired her. So

:19:26.:19:33.

today has been about her. I am sure she is looking down, hearing that,

:19:34.:19:37.

and she will have known that in her heart. She was a great woman, we all

:19:38.:19:42.

loved her. Well done to you today and sorry to put you on the spot,

:19:43.:19:47.

but you did a great job. I am just a baby really, thanks so much. Look

:19:48.:19:53.

who I have found, Steph McGovern from BBC right first. How are you

:19:54.:20:00.

feeling? I feel all right, feel tired. I enjoyed it, it was fun and

:20:01.:20:06.

the crowd is amazing. It was boiling hot, I thought I was in the

:20:07.:20:11.

Caribbean! Is this Newcastle? It doesn't feel like it! Brilliant. How

:20:12.:20:17.

was your preparation going into this? It was going well, I was

:20:18.:20:22.

training but last weekend I got an injury on my calf in Middlesbrough.

:20:23.:20:27.

You know if your head just thinks, oh, I don't know if I can do it, I

:20:28.:20:32.

had to stop a couple of times, but here I am at the end. Raising money

:20:33.:20:39.

for a great charity. Breakthrough breast Cancer in memory of our boss

:20:40.:20:45.

for a great charity. Breakthrough Ford. Well done to everyone who is

:20:46.:20:49.

running, it's so hard. Everyone is running, it's so hard. Everyone is

:20:50.:20:55.

get a bit weepy when you see the different people who have died and

:20:56.:20:58.

things, it's quite sad but great that everyone is doing this. You

:20:59.:21:04.

have earned a recovery and a rest. Get a massage. I will get a glass of

:21:05.:21:07.

wine. Get one for me! Emotional stuff there. We will look

:21:08.:21:18.

back now again at Thursday's opening ceremony. In this part, Tim Healy

:21:19.:21:26.

evokes an age of coal as a joint pithead floats down the River Tyne.

:21:27.:21:37.

Lost sons, blackened brightness, cleansed from darkness deep below.

:21:38.:21:48.

Down go our time travellers, Pitt men, each six feet of earth, 1

:21:49.:21:56.

million years, deeper and deeper, down they go. To resurrect the

:21:57.:22:04.

timber turned to carbon. Shaft by shaft, seam by seam, picked by pic,

:22:05.:22:15.

blast by blast, trolley by trolley. We bring the past into the present.

:22:16.:22:24.

We haul it out into the light. And send it across the seas on our

:22:25.:22:33.

ships. This is the stuff from the North's dark heart. The stuff that

:22:34.:22:40.

fires a revolution. The blazing stuff that transfigured the world.

:22:41.:23:04.

Why the Great North Run, you might well ask. Tap your feet and hear

:23:05.:23:41.

this. It's because we are human beings, man. Because we were born to

:23:42.:23:47.

run. A little lad called Jackie White was the ten mile world record

:23:48.:23:53.

holder in 1863. Jimmy Rowe, a foundry lad, was champion of the ten

:23:54.:24:06.

mile, six mile and 100 yards. Alf Tupper of the North won Olympic gold

:24:07.:24:17.

in 1966. Athletes here such as Tanni Grey-Thompson. And Steve Cram. The

:24:18.:24:27.

River Tyne, the champion rara. We are in the land of Milburn, Gazza,

:24:28.:24:41.

Robson, Shearer. Believing in angels, heart and sport. And then

:24:42.:24:48.

there's a lad, Mr Brendan Foster, Olympic medallist, world record

:24:49.:25:04.

holder, wor love letterren. -- wor Bren. Canny bairns, running like

:25:05.:25:20.

Grete Waitz. Hundreds in their wheelchairs, Superman, gorillas and

:25:21.:25:27.

Darth Vader. Brendan's dream has come to pass, first of 1 million

:25:28.:25:33.

bodies to cross the famous finish line. Every year we hit the drum.

:25:34.:25:46.

The cables shake. We run, we run... And yes, we bloody run!

:25:47.:26:15.

Nobody says Steve Cram white like Tim Healy! Two parts down, two more

:26:16.:27:26.

to go. -- quite like Tim Healy! Four finals, not all of them used at the

:27:27.:27:30.

same time, but when it comes to the 1 millionth finisher, it will just

:27:31.:27:34.

be the one with the counter, it. At 1 million. It's not going to be that

:27:35.:27:40.

easy to know who the 1 millionth finisher will be. They will have to

:27:41.:27:45.

look at the photo finish. Steve Cram, you have called some races in

:27:46.:27:50.

your time, how about this one? I am glad it is not my job to decide

:27:51.:27:55.

exactly who the individual is. As Jonathan says, there will be a bit

:27:56.:27:59.

of a hiatus while the checks are made and everyone has a chip on

:28:00.:28:02.

their shoe... The first thing we have to do, make sure everyone has

:28:03.:28:12.

completed the distance. There are mats at five K, ten K, 15 K, that is

:28:13.:28:21.

how I can tell you that 41,552 people are already through ten K. We

:28:22.:28:27.

have 38,000 through 15 K. They are progressing well towards the finish

:28:28.:28:33.

line. It is a countdown... Or is it a count up towards the millionth

:28:34.:28:42.

finisher? Not many more than 10,000 to go. It's a great site. Hall and

:28:43.:28:52.

Andrew, sitting and watching with me, -- Paula and Andrew. It's a

:28:53.:28:59.

great site. You appreciate it so much more now. You can look at the

:29:00.:29:03.

Sea of runners stretching back down the seafront. It's an impressive

:29:04.:29:11.

sight. The of support there on the banks, friends and family who have

:29:12.:29:14.

made their way down to support the runners. -- the amount of support.

:29:15.:29:21.

And to take part in the celebration. Looking at the various

:29:22.:29:27.

outfits, there was a guy carrying a fridge, a guy carrying an ironing

:29:28.:29:30.

board and an iron, stopping every few places to do a bit of ironing,

:29:31.:29:40.

but he has finished now. He looked a bit flat when he

:29:41.:29:43.

but he has finished now. He looked a Anyway, let's find out who Colin has

:29:44.:29:47.

with him at the halfway point. Mr karaoke... I will use your mic! Who

:29:48.:29:59.

are you running for? I like running and I like singing, so I thought I

:30:00.:30:02.

would combine it for the breast Cancer campaign, a fantastic charity

:30:03.:30:09.

funding research into breast cancer. Still 12,000 people per year die of

:30:10.:30:12.

breast cancer in Britain so it's got to get better. That is why I am

:30:13.:30:17.

doing this! Give us a blast as you disappear.

:30:18.:30:20.

Here is one for Mo. # I can't sing!

:30:21.:30:33.

# I can't dance! Use but who cares? # I will run like Farah! It's for

:30:34.:30:38.

breast cancer! Good effort though. Let us move on

:30:39.:30:50.

to part three of the ceremony, this is where we see Sting and Jimmy

:30:51.:30:56.

nail, we have got some really great electricity staff and fireworks.

:30:57.:31:15.

Roar of fire, belch of steam, iron, steel, stone, boom, crash, proper

:31:16.:31:32.

pay, proper rights, we will not be destroyed. We forged metal links

:31:33.:31:40.

across the earth, and we forged a better world with it, and we lived

:31:41.:31:50.

that world to the moon, and one day, we will lift it to the stars. 10,000

:31:51.:32:04.

workers pouring through the gates, the sparkle of welders like stars on

:32:05.:32:13.

the earth. Hibernia, Northumbria, bringing each closer to each other.

:32:14.:32:20.

Our ships bring cargoes in their holes, and with skill and fire in

:32:21.:32:37.

life, what we have done makes way for what we do. MUSIC

:32:38.:34:17.

MUSIC the River tells that nothing is finished, nothing is done, the

:34:18.:36:16.

salmon leaps again beneath our bridges, strong like hearts against

:36:17.:36:26.

the sky. The great port of Tyne links us as it always have, with all

:36:27.:36:33.

other sees and all other nations, the engine speed to gain in Neptune

:36:34.:36:40.

yard. Our cables reach across the oceans, offshore engineers,

:36:41.:36:44.

explorers of the subsea, where engineers of wire, steel, genetic

:36:45.:36:47.

codes, the imagination, the endless human

:36:48.:36:57.

net of thought and dream and labour, rises like exhorting larks, like a

:36:58.:37:17.

flame, like electricity. Image, glass, electron, filament and

:37:18.:37:22.

switch. Great Manhattan and Shanghai, burn bright with light

:37:23.:37:30.

that has come out from Gateshead, to proclaim our presence with the

:37:31.:37:39.

stars. Look around you now, and see Swan's lights, the beams of heaven,

:37:40.:39:32.

brought to Earth. MUSIC look at them just running through now in their

:39:33.:39:38.

thousands, and the counter is moving towards 1 million very, very quickly

:39:39.:39:44.

indeed. Quite some site, I have been joined by Steve, who has made his

:39:45.:39:50.

way, before we talk about that ceremony. Brendan mentioned at the

:39:51.:39:53.

top of the show, you run at Great North

:39:54.:39:57.

Run? Yes, it was not that bad, everybody just cared away including

:39:58.:40:05.

him and it took me nine miles to catch him, and he was down the road,

:40:06.:40:13.

and when I caught him, I was shattered and he was knackered, but

:40:14.:40:17.

it was great. We finished further down, it was longer than a half

:40:18.:40:22.

marathon actually, it is incredible what we have arrived today, less

:40:23.:40:25.

than 7000 people away from the millionth finished.

:40:26.:40:28.

Rhino, Brendan was a great run it has become -- he has become quite

:40:29.:40:38.

cultural? Yes it is a surprise to many of us, we are going to see a

:40:39.:40:41.

bit of film a minute, you many of us, we are going to see a

:40:42.:40:46.

working there, it was fabulous to see that show. It was a very

:40:47.:40:52.

ambitious thing to do, it was carried off brilliantly, but

:40:53.:40:55.

actually Brendan has been trying in recent years, it is like the Olympic

:40:56.:41:01.

Games, the opening ceremonies, sport is about people, and people enjoy

:41:02.:41:06.

dancing and music, it is part of culture. And trying to marry the two

:41:07.:41:11.

together is a good idea because not everybody wants necessarily to run,

:41:12.:41:15.

they want to write about it and sing about it. You mentioned being out

:41:16.:41:20.

and about, there was the great North exhibition. It is a celebration of

:41:21.:41:37.

all things great for the north-east, we are looking at the industrial and

:41:38.:41:41.

sporting heritage, against contemporary heroes, the main focus

:41:42.:41:46.

are five sporting and industrial greats. How do you think this links

:41:47.:41:53.

into this year, the 1,000,000th finisher? We are the first event of

:41:54.:42:00.

our kind to reach 1 million in the world so we thought it was a great

:42:01.:42:04.

opportunity to celebrate what else the north-east is great for, what it

:42:05.:42:06.

is known. The theme is what the opening

:42:07.:42:15.

ceremony was all about, it is about our heritage, what has made us so

:42:16.:42:20.

proud and great and it is about looking forward to the future, who

:42:21.:42:26.

are the next million people? Big themes, innovating, keep on

:42:27.:42:32.

inspiring and innovating. The nice thing about this is this link

:42:33.:42:36.

between the great characters of the north-east, some people don't

:42:37.:42:39.

understand, Joseph Swan and the role that he played, in electricity. In

:42:40.:42:47.

the light bulb. Sunderland shipyard is close to my heart. There are more

:42:48.:42:52.

people there, than watch the football these days. People are

:42:53.:42:59.

choosing their own Great North Road its comic says Brendan Foster but I

:43:00.:43:04.

think it is his handwriting! -- it says. There are lots of famous

:43:05.:43:10.

people like Bobby Robson and Jimmy nail, but a lot of people say my

:43:11.:43:17.

mother and my father. This is the image that most people, I guess.

:43:18.:43:24.

Interestingly, they take that same photograph every year. They just

:43:25.:43:40.

superimpose it on. Sporting events by the very fact that they are

:43:41.:43:43.

turning a spotlight on an area already city, if you are hosting

:43:44.:43:48.

given pixel the Games, it does give an opportunity to widen the event?

:43:49.:43:55.

Exactly right, bigger and better, people who might not normally think

:43:56.:44:00.

about art and sport, it get them together, the Great North Run

:44:01.:44:05.

effectively opens avenues. What the culture can do, is keep on telling

:44:06.:44:09.

the stories and all of the amazing things. Fascinating exhibition and I

:44:10.:44:21.

guess what is great, for the north-east is what they and their

:44:22.:44:29.

ancestors contributed? Yes, so many people came away from the ceremony,

:44:30.:44:33.

people forget how many great people have come from this area. Some of

:44:34.:44:38.

the great things they have done, particularly in the world of

:44:39.:44:43.

industry, not just industry. That exhibition is a great widening out

:44:44.:44:48.

of what we are about, what we have contributed, to the country and to

:44:49.:44:56.

the world. It is not something, that we are very good at doing. I think

:44:57.:45:01.

the Great North Run itself, is a great platform and showcase for

:45:02.:45:05.

telling everybody that we are a good place. You need to run the gauntlet

:45:06.:45:08.

back, thank you very much. We have seen five Scooby Doos, two

:45:09.:45:32.

of Spiderman, one Batman. Two of wonder woman. A man with an ironing

:45:33.:45:45.

board. Fred Flintstone. Three bumblebees. You could have been the

:45:46.:45:55.

one from Despicable Me! If people are thinking of getting into

:45:56.:46:02.

running, how would you get started in preparing for something like

:46:03.:46:06.

this? The easiest way is to get together with a group, whether it is

:46:07.:46:11.

a group of friends, or join your local running club and make it fun,

:46:12.:46:15.

make it a social get-together to get out and do the training, work

:46:16.:46:21.

towards the half marathon distance, building in short events, starting

:46:22.:46:26.

out with five K, ten K, ten miles and up to the half marathon distance

:46:27.:46:33.

gradually. Is weekly training very different for this from five K, ten

:46:34.:46:41.

K? You need to do a bit more to enjoy it, you need to have run the

:46:42.:46:45.

distance in training, but not a lot of times, probably four or five

:46:46.:46:50.

times beforehand similar distances, 12 or 13 miles, and then taper down

:46:51.:46:54.

before the event and picked a good one that is going to inspire you,

:46:55.:46:59.

keep you motivated and interested as you are running along. Of course the

:47:00.:47:03.

perfect preparation is to get married the day before the Great

:47:04.:47:07.

North Run and then take part, as a bizarre but very happy couple have

:47:08.:47:08.

done, talking to Phil. I have been invited to a wedding

:47:09.:47:18.

party. And here is a wedding party! Starting with the groom, the bride,

:47:19.:47:23.

the best man at the end, the vicar, the priest, the bridesmaid. You have

:47:24.:47:26.

lost somebody. the priest, the bridesmaid. You have

:47:27.:47:31.

bride is back there somewhere. And one of the bridesmaids. Hopefully he

:47:32.:47:37.

will get round in the expired or ten minutes! Well done, it is great that

:47:38.:47:41.

you have entered into the spirit, why did you put all of this

:47:42.:47:45.

together? We try to get married in September, we have this five years

:47:46.:47:50.

on the trot. -- we decided to get married. We thought we would put

:47:51.:47:55.

them together. It has just been incredible. All the way round,

:47:56.:48:01.

people congratulating us, waving, giving us oranges, it has been

:48:02.:48:07.

absolutely incredible. So when is the actual wedding day? Yesterday,

:48:08.:48:12.

the town hall just behind us. A very reserved reception! Only a few

:48:13.:48:19.

drinks! So tonight you can make up for it? Definitely! Well done, enjoy

:48:20.:48:26.

the celebrations and congratulations from all of us at the BBC.

:48:27.:48:30.

Happy honeymoon! This way, isn't it! About 400 to go, now it is time

:48:31.:48:40.

for part four of the opening ceremony. 4000! Just as well I have

:48:41.:48:45.

nothing to do with that counter. An amazing fiery runner symbolising the

:48:46.:48:51.

1 millionth finisher, Chase and status who I had never heard of but

:48:52.:48:53.

I like them now, and more fireworks. We are a realm of art and science,

:48:54.:49:07.

industry and philosophy. Poetry, theatre, music, sport. A realm of

:49:08.:49:17.

light and space and beauty that. The breath -- that will stop the breath.

:49:18.:49:25.

The firmament, a fingertip away. Like salmon, we will always leap.

:49:26.:49:33.

Like the lark, we will always rise. Our skip is quicker than

:49:34.:49:45.

destruction's dread. Our light shines brighter. We won't be done

:49:46.:49:55.

until the darkness takes us back into itself. We are the ever moving

:49:56.:49:57.

Great North Run! So now let's gather in a single

:49:58.:50:12.

flow, like particles of light, like human cells, like genes in code.

:50:13.:50:29.

Like common words flung out on some -- and sunk, between the salmon and

:50:30.:50:32.

the Larks, between the water and the bridge, between the soil and the

:50:33.:50:37.

sky, between this earth and all of that immensity. Blazing fragments of

:50:38.:50:46.

the big bang's Summit, each single one of us, each lad and lass, 1

:50:47.:50:57.

million runners joined as one. We run from the nilness to the start. I

:50:58.:51:13.

am me and I am you. Each of us is each of us. Run now and keep running

:51:14.:51:19.

this lovely northern road between the sparkling city and the shining

:51:20.:51:23.

sea. # The rain is pouring down on me

:51:24.:51:48.

# And the sky is the only thing I see

:51:49.:51:54.

# It's just me and the ground beneath my feet

:51:55.:52:00.

# I feel so alone # I feel so alive!

:52:01.:52:13.

# Oh! My my! # Yes, the rain is pouring down on

:52:14.:52:49.

me # I know it's the only thing I see

:52:50.:53:02.

# It's just me and the ground beneath my feet

:53:03.:53:12.

# Oh, I feel so alive! # Oh! My my!

:53:13.:53:15.

# Oh, I feel so alive! Is walk the world

:53:16.:53:40.

# There is nowhere to run, buy # Chance to chance

:53:41.:53:46.

# We've come too far and we're not going to lose it

:53:47.:53:50.

# Feel so alive # I feel so alive

:53:51.:53:57.

# I feel so alive! # Oh! My my!

:53:58.:54:08.

# I feel so alive! # Feel so alive

:54:09.:54:28.

# Feel so alive # Walk the world

:54:29.:54:42.

# There is nowhere to run # Chance to chance

:54:43.:54:49.

# You can run if you want # We've come so far and we're not

:54:50.:54:51.

going to lose That was the opening ceremony on

:54:52.:55:06.

Thursday. The counter, just under 2000 to go.

:55:07.:55:23.

How are you feeling? There are enough digits on there! It's taking

:55:24.:55:29.

up gently and slowly. A few anonymous people coming up the road

:55:30.:55:33.

and one of them is going to be the 1 millionth finisher, it's nice that

:55:34.:55:37.

it is an ordinary person. We have had Mo Farah with a British record,

:55:38.:55:43.

a female record-breaking run, a beautiful day, but the ordinarily

:55:44.:55:49.

guy is going to be in for... We are going to make them famous for ten

:55:50.:55:56.

minutes! A bit longer than that. I guess 1 million is a great symbol of

:55:57.:56:02.

participation. I don't want this to turn into the Brendan Foster

:56:03.:56:04.

Fanclub, but it's a turn into the Brendan Foster

:56:05.:56:09.

man. 34 years ago, somebody has to sit down and have the idea. I know

:56:10.:56:14.

he would be the first to say that this has been a magnificent team

:56:15.:56:18.

effort, every year it's got bigger and bigger, but it starts off with

:56:19.:56:24.

something. That catalyst has been the 1 millionth person today and

:56:25.:56:28.

that is sensational. If they all remain in our sport, that's even

:56:29.:56:33.

better. Where did the information come from? Like Sebastien Makro

:56:34.:56:39.

said, all great ideas start with a bowl of salad! -- like Sebastien

:56:40.:56:49.

said. I saw a raise in New Zealand with Dave Moorcroft when we were

:56:50.:56:53.

training for the 1980 Olympics. -- a race. A lot of pressure on Britain

:56:54.:57:00.

in 1984 as not to go to the Olympics, we have been training our

:57:01.:57:04.

whole lives so we went to train in New Zealand. Dave and I ran in a

:57:05.:57:08.

race in Auckland, run along the coast and finished at the seaside. I

:57:09.:57:14.

said to David, that was great. We had never seen an event of that

:57:15.:57:18.

size, 10,000 runners they had. I said, when I retire after the

:57:19.:57:22.

Olympics, I am going to see if we can do something like that at home

:57:23.:57:26.

in the north-east. We started with the city, Newcastle, across the Tyne

:57:27.:57:30.

Bridge, coming to the seaside. This is where I used to come as a kid,

:57:31.:57:35.

South Shields. Steve Cram was the same, this is our seaside, and it

:57:36.:57:40.

seems to work quite well. Steve was having a go at you earlier, saying

:57:41.:57:45.

that he didn't catch you up until nine miles in the first race. That

:57:46.:57:50.

is true, he called me at nine miles and started running alongside me,

:57:51.:57:54.

talking. He was on his way to becoming an Olympic runner and I was

:57:55.:57:58.

an old has-been. After a minute listening to him talking, I said,

:57:59.:58:04.

Steve... We have all done that! It is the oldest one in the book. The

:58:05.:58:14.

counter has gone red. I thought it was going to be black and white, not

:58:15.:58:20.

red and white! What was your first memories, you must have been aware

:58:21.:58:24.

it was happening? I think it was only six weeks after the London one,

:58:25.:58:30.

it was earlier in the year. Chris Brasher was planning the London

:58:31.:58:37.

Marathon in April. It was at a time when a lot of cities were beginning

:58:38.:58:44.

to do it. You talked about the race in New Zealand, I can remember some

:58:45.:58:48.

of the runs developing in the 70s in the states. Portland, Falmouth, New

:58:49.:58:54.

York. It was the world starting to run. Off the back of a successful

:58:55.:59:01.

British athletics team at the time, we came out of the Moscow games, a

:59:02.:59:07.

good 1981 season, people were just caught up... In a way, just joined

:59:08.:59:14.

the imagination of how far this could go. Every year, it's got

:59:15.:59:19.

bigger and better and the sponsors realised this was something that was

:59:20.:59:25.

worth supporting. Looking back, they were fairly modest affairs. The

:59:26.:59:32.

London Marathon, you know, it was a few thousand. The first year, the

:59:33.:59:38.

London Marathon was 6000 and we were 10,000. But I tell you what, the

:59:39.:59:42.

London Marathon is the finest marathon in the world, the jewel in

:59:43.:59:46.

the crown, the one we aspire to. But here we are in the north-east of

:59:47.:59:51.

England, on the coast, the number is ticking up, Jonathan... Somebody is

:59:52.:59:56.

going to tell me to go to Steve Cram very soon. What do you think the

:59:57.:00:02.

hook is? It is not easy, a great sense of achievement, but they are

:00:03.:00:08.

knackered. I think it's more accessible, if I am being honest,

:00:09.:00:13.

than the marathon. It is more within most people's range of comfort. I

:00:14.:00:17.

shouldn't say this, but you don't have to train for quite so long.

:00:18.:00:21.

It's something within the framework of reference. I think there is a

:00:22.:00:27.

unique community spirit here, and I can say it as an outsider, you two

:00:28.:00:32.

know the area far better than I do, even from the 70s when I was coming

:00:33.:00:36.

up here, this is an area that just gets sport, it understands it, it's

:00:37.:00:41.

passionate about it and is more to it than just simply a competitive

:00:42.:00:46.

outing. The time has come, Steve, it's all yours.

:00:47.:00:55.

As you say, the moment has come, somebody in that group of people

:00:56.:01:01.

heading towards the finish line will be the 1,000,000th finisher in the

:01:02.:01:06.

Great North Run. 34 years we have come and

:01:07.:01:10.

Watched. We have marvelled at the great and the glorious and the

:01:11.:01:20.

ordinary, ordinary people doing extraordinary things, many people

:01:21.:01:22.

never thought this was something that they could achieve, they have

:01:23.:01:28.

joined a long, long list of so many people, enough of them have run

:01:29.:01:32.

enough miles to go halfway from planet Earth to Venus, 13 million

:01:33.:01:43.

miles and more. We have seen one of the oldest today of course, from all

:01:44.:01:49.

ages, and all over the north-east, there must be hardly a family from

:01:50.:01:54.

the north-east who has not taken part in the great North West run.

:01:55.:02:04.

And counting up to 1 million, someone is soon going to be the

:02:05.:02:09.

lucky person, only one can be the millionth across the line. Here it

:02:10.:02:19.

is. Tend to go. 1 million! 1 million runners! 1 million stories. And a

:02:20.:02:25.

million smiles as well, whoever you are, we salute you and you represent

:02:26.:02:29.

all of those that have gone before you. It is a fantastic moment for a

:02:30.:02:37.

fantastic race. The Great North Run, truly is great, and 1 million people

:02:38.:02:43.

can now say that they have done it. And still they come. Well it was 33

:02:44.:02:54.

years ago, this is the 34th running of it, we gathered here when we all

:02:55.:03:01.

finished, none of us could have thought of what was to come over the

:03:02.:03:06.

ensuing years. It seems such a long time ago, 1981. I think this is one

:03:07.:03:19.

of the best organised races I have ever seen. It could be a blueprint

:03:20.:03:25.

for other races like this. I am glad that I was in the first Great North

:03:26.:03:30.

Run. It is the beginning of something very, very bit here. --

:03:31.:03:57.

very big. The greatest, the friendliest, a colourful and joyous

:03:58.:04:01.

celebration of regional identity and spirit. People are asking us if we

:04:02.:04:13.

will do it again next year, but we don't have the choice, we have got

:04:14.:04:17.

to do it because that is what people do mundane. -- are demanding. 1

:04:18.:04:26.

million finishes, in fact that is not true any more, because it is

:04:27.:04:30.

probably about one million and a thousand and it will keep on ticking

:04:31.:04:35.

for years to come. I suppose we will have two do it again next year,

:04:36.:04:40.

where does this all finished? Well we have got the second million

:04:41.:04:45.

already, Sebastien has suggested a really neat idea. I was saying,

:04:46.:04:52.

wouldn't it be nice to send back the millionth who was across, to send it

:04:53.:04:57.

back to New Zealand, where they got the idea from. I'm glad that I'm not

:04:58.:05:03.

in charge of the budgets. I think that is a good idea, we will

:05:04.:05:07.

definitely do that. They need to hold boys to go with them. So

:05:08.:05:14.

Michael cloud was the first winner in 1981, I have asked this a few

:05:15.:05:20.

times, the emotions when you saw that ticking over, the little group

:05:21.:05:26.

ushered away, now being vetted, to see who is at the photo finish. It

:05:27.:05:31.

is lovely, it is really good, but we organise these things, but this is

:05:32.:05:37.

absolutely true, it is the people who have turned up who have made the

:05:38.:05:42.

million. We could have organised and worked as hard as we had done and it

:05:43.:05:47.

might be 750,000, people have embraced it. And I think the look,

:05:48.:05:56.

they look quite shocked. To say that they have run for 3.5 hours already.

:05:57.:06:01.

We have seen the counter, they cannot see it. They look very

:06:02.:06:07.

excited, and slightly shocked. It has been an amazing journey for

:06:08.:06:11.

you, here are a few thoughts that you have had. When I first started

:06:12.:06:21.

this event, the biggest event in Britain had 1300 runners in it. In

:06:22.:06:26.

our first year we had 11,000 runners, that made it immediately

:06:27.:06:30.

opens biggest ever mass participation event. And when I have

:06:31.:06:37.

seen it grow, watched it grow, and become the most popular and you get

:06:38.:06:41.

50,000 runners and a million finishes. Not only is it more than I

:06:42.:06:47.

could believe, it is more than they could believe. We did not believe

:06:48.:06:51.

that the British public would take to distance running like they have

:06:52.:06:56.

done. When I look at it now, and I see, it starts from those early

:06:57.:07:01.

beginnings. We did not know what we were doing. It is just incredible. I

:07:02.:07:08.

have said it before, it is ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

:07:09.:07:14.

It is the people, it is the numbers, it is the elite athletes and the

:07:15.:07:20.

rest. That make it what it is. There was a moment in that event last

:07:21.:07:25.

year, coming across Gateshead Stadium, which was my stamping

:07:26.:07:29.

ground, we have the greatest distance runner of all time, and we

:07:30.:07:35.

had the Challenger and we had Mo Farah. Three of them running

:07:36.:07:39.

together, and I thought it will not get any better than that. But the

:07:40.:07:45.

idea of getting 1 million, it is a race that we only entered a couple

:07:46.:07:49.

of years ago and we realised it was getting close to a million, to beat

:07:50.:07:56.

London, New York, Tokyo, and for people to recognise it is the icing

:07:57.:08:04.

on the cake. Here it is the millionth finisher, can you believe

:08:05.:08:09.

it? I am gobsmacked, totally shocked. What happened? I kept on

:08:10.:08:16.

going and I was trying to find my parents, my dad is somewhere in the

:08:17.:08:21.

crowd, and I assumed that it was a girl behind me and then I was mobbed

:08:22.:08:27.

with the rest of them. I know how the VIPs feel now. Tell us about

:08:28.:08:35.

yourself, where are you from? I started running in 2013 after my mum

:08:36.:08:40.

passed away, and I thought that I would raise funds for children's

:08:41.:08:43.

charities because children meant so much to her, for the last two years

:08:44.:08:48.

I ran the Great North Run, last year I ran for great warm and, -- great

:08:49.:08:56.

warm in, and this year for the hospice, good going the north-east

:08:57.:09:01.

and I'm really proud. If you look at the screen, we can see the moment

:09:02.:09:05.

when you were told that you were the millionth finisher of the great

:09:06.:09:13.

North run. LAUGHTER There you are, being ushered up, to

:09:14.:09:16.

meet me and Sebastian and Brendan, you are going

:09:17.:09:27.

to go down in history. That is amazing, I never get anything right.

:09:28.:09:34.

He wants to say something to you, Brendan. Fantastic, well done, it

:09:35.:09:39.

looks as though you enjoyed that moment, we will make you famous for

:09:40.:09:43.

ten minutes. Thank you. My moment of fame. I made it! Over there, there

:09:44.:09:54.

is a special ceremony area, there is a special flag that is going to be

:09:55.:09:58.

commissioned and a whole bunch of marines, that sounds good. This is

:09:59.:10:03.

amazing, I am in awe of all of this. My moment of fame. How was the run

:10:04.:10:09.

for you? I think it was incredibly hot, a lot of runners have struggled

:10:10.:10:15.

terribly with a heat, cramping, not taking on enough fluid, I did

:10:16.:10:19.

struggle today too. Mostly, I think that I lost my body weight in

:10:20.:10:25.

perspiration to be honest. And in terms of the crowd out there, the

:10:26.:10:30.

atmosphere? This year worth a nominal, last year the weather was

:10:31.:10:35.

cold and a bit wet, we did not have quite enough support but this year

:10:36.:10:39.

they did us proud. Amazing, you get to the point when you are feeling

:10:40.:10:44.

low and all of a sudden, there is a spurt of enthusiasm from the

:10:45.:10:47.

sidelines, it is amazing, thank you. Many congratulations, you will

:10:48.:10:54.

go away with these two big gentlemen, Lord Coe and soon to be

:10:55.:10:58.

so Brendan Foster I would hope. Very well done. -- Sir Brendan Foster.

:10:59.:11:11.

Well congratulations Tracy, when you crossed the line we did not know who

:11:12.:11:17.

it was, but it is fair to say that she represents everybody in

:11:18.:11:20.

celebrating this special day for the Great North Run, she is the

:11:21.:11:24.

1,000,000th finisher, and as Brendan rightly pointed out, we are already

:11:25.:11:29.

moving well into the second million. A lot of people probably don't even

:11:30.:11:37.

know or maybe don't even care, they are still on a personal journey.

:11:38.:11:41.

They will be having that ceremony very quickly. But, you see the

:11:42.:11:48.

review all of the way up the seafront, Paul and Andrew are still

:11:49.:11:54.

with me. Paul and Tracy is very typical of the person, who comes in

:11:55.:11:57.

the Great North Run and makes it such a great occasion? Absolutely so

:11:58.:12:04.

many people out here today, that represents the event, and represent

:12:05.:12:08.

the family of runners so well. They have all set out with their own

:12:09.:12:12.

personal targets, they have helped each other along, going through

:12:13.:12:16.

difficult points at difficult stages in the race and people around you

:12:17.:12:21.

keep you going and help you keep moving through that difficult patch

:12:22.:12:26.

and into the smoother waters ahead. Because of the coverage as well,

:12:27.:12:30.

people watching this and think that is fantastic and I will target that

:12:31.:12:35.

for next year. I'm going to go and dress up as Sylvester and run 13

:12:36.:12:42.

miles or so in the heat. It is the mass participation, it is a very

:12:43.:12:46.

comical event, especially if you are finishing down at this point, you

:12:47.:12:49.

are running with people around you all of the time, you are chatting

:12:50.:12:53.

away, you get to the finish and you shake hands, and that is the feeling

:12:54.:12:58.

that you take away. It is an elite event, it is not really a race,

:12:59.:13:02.

looking at the timing, it is not about that, it is about getting out

:13:03.:13:07.

there with thousands of other people and enjoying the experience? It is a

:13:08.:13:13.

festival, it is about completing the Great North Run, taking part in a

:13:14.:13:18.

festival of celebration of running, and making that journey from

:13:19.:13:22.

Newcastle out here to South Shields. You see some wonderful finishes, in

:13:23.:13:29.

the last wild meters or so. Everybody, some people have

:13:30.:13:33.

something left in the tank and other people not so. Finishing and doing

:13:34.:13:38.

it in their rain pace, a wonderful sight to see. -- their own pace.

:13:39.:13:42.

Della mac what a moment it was, the sight to see. -- their own pace.

:13:43.:13:52.

millionth finisher. Tracey Cramond, as is Amanda, she is running the

:13:53.:13:55.

Great North Run and not so long ago it would have felt like an

:13:56.:14:04.

impossible dream. It was 2002 when I took ill, before that things were so

:14:05.:14:09.

good, we had celebrated the 10th wedding anniversary, I had had my

:14:10.:14:13.

30th birthday, then it all fell apart. I was literally becoming more

:14:14.:14:20.

disabled by the day, it got to the point where I was so weak I could

:14:21.:14:24.

not even lift a fork to my mouth, I was feeling very unwell. And then

:14:25.:14:30.

finally, it actually took 18 months before I was diagnosed, it was

:14:31.:14:34.

actually a relief to be finally told, that's the name of the illness

:14:35.:14:44.

was ME. Nine years bedbound, in a darkened room because I had such

:14:45.:14:49.

severe light sensitivity, and I developed a very severe food

:14:50.:14:53.

allergies and it made my face well up and break out in boil like saws

:14:54.:14:57.

and bring me to the point where I could not even look into the mirror

:14:58.:15:01.

without crying because I could not recognise my face any more.

:15:02.:15:10.

Everything of who I was, had been stripped away, it was so difficult,

:15:11.:15:18.

I think that I felt guilt, I felt so bad that somehow, our marriage had

:15:19.:15:23.

become this because of me. My worst fear was that I would get beyond the

:15:24.:15:26.

point where Steve could care for me and I would have to be careful by

:15:27.:15:28.

strangers. -- cared for. That was very strong in my mind.

:15:29.:15:42.

Suddenly in July 2011, I decided this was going to be the moment, we

:15:43.:15:46.

were going to try and leave the house for the first time in nine

:15:47.:15:50.

years. Steve had to carry me down the stairs. The first place we went

:15:51.:15:56.

was the church, where everybody had stood by us for nine years. When I

:15:57.:16:01.

got into church, I had to be lay across three chairs but I didn't

:16:02.:16:04.

care because I had made it, I was out of the house for the first time

:16:05.:16:11.

in nine years. Just as I began to sing, I felt a strength come into my

:16:12.:16:15.

body and I managed to sit upright for an entire hour and a half, and I

:16:16.:16:20.

suddenly realised I was holding my arms up in the air and these were

:16:21.:16:24.

arms that normally couldn't lift a forked my mouth, so I knew something

:16:25.:16:31.

very special was happening. When I got out of church, all of the energy

:16:32.:16:36.

drained away and I was bedbound all week, so it was massive perseverance

:16:37.:16:41.

to go back to church, but I was so glad I did persevere, because after

:16:42.:16:46.

eight months, I got up out of my wheelchair. With my husband on one

:16:47.:16:51.

arm and a friend on the other, I walked a distance of almost 100

:16:52.:16:55.

metres. What was so amazing about that, all of my muscles had wasted

:16:56.:17:01.

away while I was bedbound and my legs were skin and bone, and yet

:17:02.:17:04.

here I was walking for the first time in all those years. After

:17:05.:17:10.

that, I was able to use a walking frame. Every I would practice

:17:11.:17:15.

walking lengths of the bedroom to strengthen my muscles. I wasn't

:17:16.:17:18.

fully healed, but I had moved forward a long way. In June of last

:17:19.:17:23.

year, I set off on the walking frame in the Dublin ten K half marathon,

:17:24.:17:31.

half way round I handed the walking frame to Steve, ran over the finish

:17:32.:17:36.

line into Steve's arms, I felt absolutely wonderful and I have

:17:37.:17:39.

never had to use a walking frame since that day. From that moment on,

:17:40.:17:44.

I have never had another ME symptom and it's now more than a year since

:17:45.:17:49.

then. The charity I am running for is Action for ME. They were like a

:17:50.:17:58.

lifeline for me and Steve when I was bedbound. Because of the ME, I have

:17:59.:18:06.

not been able to go back to Newcastle for almost 13 years. For

:18:07.:18:11.

me and Steve, both from up there, that has been like a hole in our

:18:12.:18:13.

hearts. Amanda is still out on the course,

:18:14.:18:33.

but this is the moment when she came back to Newcastle with her husband.

:18:34.:18:37.

She talked about the fact it was 13 years she hadn't been back because

:18:38.:18:42.

of her illness, her ME. Quite a remarkable recovery. I do hope she

:18:43.:18:46.

is doing well out on the course, because it certainly is a big

:18:47.:18:49.

challenge after all she has been through. Paula, the Great North Run

:18:50.:18:57.

continues, Amanda is still out there, she is going to be the 1

:18:58.:19:01.

millionth and whatever finisher, and the magic goes on. It is not about

:19:02.:19:06.

which number, it is the fact they have made this journey, they have

:19:07.:19:09.

completed the preparation and they have finally done the Great North

:19:10.:19:14.

Run journey from Newcastle out here to South Shields and completed a

:19:15.:19:18.

half marathon. That is an achievement. The 1 millionth runner

:19:19.:19:23.

has been through, it was an amazing moment actually. You wondered what

:19:24.:19:28.

it was fantastic. I asked Brendan and Seb, I will ask you, what do you

:19:29.:19:34.

think it is about running that has captured the imagination that we are

:19:35.:19:38.

here to celebrate such a milestone? It is hard to put into words.

:19:39.:19:42.

Obviously those of us who are runners, we enjoy doing it and we

:19:43.:19:46.

enjoy the buzz in a race or training. How many sports are there

:19:47.:19:53.

where you can say you have taken part in the same event as 1 million

:19:54.:19:58.

other people? People can say they have completed the same race on the

:19:59.:20:04.

same day as 40,000 people. Not many sports where you can do that. So it

:20:05.:20:08.

really is that big family atmosphere of belonging, helping each other

:20:09.:20:12.

through it on the cause and in preparation and in training, in the

:20:13.:20:16.

running club is all across the country. -- on the course. The

:20:17.:20:22.

ceremony is coming up shortly. Do you know what? The thing that has

:20:23.:20:23.

made it possible is running. Running isn't a sport for pretty

:20:24.:20:33.

boys, it's about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet.

:20:34.:20:38.

It's the frozen spit on your chin and the nausea in your gut. It's

:20:39.:20:42.

about cramps at midnight strong enough to wake the dead. It's about

:20:43.:20:48.

getting out the door and running when the rest of the world is only

:20:49.:20:51.

dreaming about having the passion you need to run each and every day.

:20:52.:20:56.

It's about being on a lonely road and running like a champion, even

:20:57.:21:00.

when there's not a single soul in sight to cheer you on. Running is

:21:01.:21:04.

all about having a desire to train and persevere, until every fibre in

:21:05.:21:10.

your legs, mind and heart has turned to steal. And when you have finally

:21:11.:21:14.

forced hard enough, you will become the best runner you can be. And

:21:15.:21:22.

that's all that you can ask for. So, the lovely Tracy has crossed the

:21:23.:21:27.

line, she is the 1 millionth finisher. It's time for the

:21:28.:21:31.

ceremony. Your master of ceremonies is Brian burn-out. Three minutes

:21:32.:21:38.

ago, we celebrated their historic moment when Tyneside officially

:21:39.:21:41.

became a host to the first ever event of its kind to achieve a 1

:21:42.:21:50.

millionth finish. Two flags, 1 representing the International

:21:51.:21:53.

Association of the and is, and one representing Tyneside, ceremonially

:21:54.:21:59.

united by four flag-bearers from the Marine Corps. Earlier today, the

:22:00.:22:04.

unified flag was run along the Great North Run coast by those Marines.

:22:05.:22:07.

It's here with us now at the finishing line in South Shields to

:22:08.:22:14.

welcome our 1 millionth finisher. A few minutes ago, we discovered the

:22:15.:22:19.

identity of that 1 millionth finisher. So it gives me great

:22:20.:22:26.

pleasure to welcome the Great North Run's 1 millionth finisher, Tracey

:22:27.:22:32.

Crawford! To make the presentation, the inspiration behind this

:22:33.:22:38.

fantastic race, Brendan Foster and the vice president of the

:22:39.:22:40.

International Association of the, Seb Coe.

:22:41.:22:41.

APPLAUSE Tracey from Darlington, our 1

:22:42.:23:00.

millionth finisher. I would like to invite Lord Coe to present Tracey

:23:01.:23:01.

with a unique finisher's medal. Brendan Foster, presenting a limited

:23:02.:23:17.

addition print of the Great North Run finish by Jim Edwards.

:23:18.:23:30.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we will raise the Great North Run 1

:23:31.:23:39.

million flag, accompanied by the Royal Marines buglers, playing a

:23:40.:23:42.

piece specially composed for the occasion by the Royal Marines band,

:23:43.:23:48.

called the Great North Road Millionth Runner.

:23:49.:24:13.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tracey, our 1 millionth finisher.

:24:14.:24:36.

A great moment for Tracey. She looks a little bit bemused, doesn't she?

:24:37.:24:43.

She said she crossed the line and was suddenly mobbed by a load of

:24:44.:24:47.

people. She would have had no idea when she was coming down, 100 metres

:24:48.:24:52.

to go. We could predict the 1 millionth finisher would be in that

:24:53.:24:57.

zone, but she didn't know until she crossed the line. A quick recap on

:24:58.:25:03.

the elite races. Your course record went to Mary Pattani. Records are

:25:04.:25:09.

made to be beaten and she ran really well. -- Mary Keitany. Gemma Steel

:25:10.:25:15.

in second, a huge personal best and showing potential for the future.

:25:16.:25:21.

And breaking the streak, getting a British winner in this event for the

:25:22.:25:29.

first time since 1985. An important win for Mo, his training partner was

:25:30.:25:33.

pushing him all the way. To have lost that race after the year he has

:25:34.:25:38.

had would have been tough. Watching the race, it was hard to work out if

:25:39.:25:42.

they were working together. A couple of points where I think Kigen could

:25:43.:25:48.

have attacked. He had a bit of a gap, but when Mo gets into the last

:25:49.:25:52.

mile, he knows he is not going to be out kicked. He was close to dipping

:25:53.:26:03.

under into the 59s, which is very fast running. 60 flat is fast, but

:26:04.:26:07.

he would like to go under that barrier next time. We are nearly

:26:08.:26:12.

done on BBC Two, but there is more sport in half an hour. It is going

:26:13.:26:17.

to be the burly horse trials and the World Equestrian Games on BBC Two

:26:18.:26:23.

from 3pm. -- the Burleigh horse trials.

:26:24.:26:39.

Starting next Wednesday, Prince Harry's big idea, the Invictus

:26:40.:26:45.

Games. VOICEOVER: The Invicta 's warriors

:26:46.:26:50.

are coming, more than 400 international competitors, no

:26:51.:26:53.

strangers to battle, or have served their country. Prince Harry has

:26:54.:26:57.

challenged them, now they will challenge each other. Pushing their

:26:58.:27:01.

bodies to the limit in the quest for glory. The stage is set. The

:27:02.:27:08.

Invictus warriors are ready, let the games commence. Starting with the

:27:09.:27:14.

countdown, tonight at 9:15pm on BBC Two and BBC Two HD.

:27:15.:27:19.

A final thought on the millionth finish and what the Great North Run

:27:20.:27:26.

has become. It is special that the sun has shone so much today on this

:27:27.:27:30.

race and the man of people who have prepared and run this race over the

:27:31.:27:35.

years since it started in 1981. -- the amount of people. It is about

:27:36.:27:39.

everybody who has joined the family of Great North Run is. The Great

:27:40.:27:44.

North Run is always an incredible day. The elite running incredibly

:27:45.:27:49.

fast, the gritty determination of the masses. The 1 millionth

:27:50.:27:54.

finisher. It started on Thursday with the amazing opening ceremony

:27:55.:27:57.

which brought the play is alive and it was Tracey who crossed the line,

:27:58.:28:02.

the 1 millionth finisher. An amazing journey, hats off to Brendan

:28:03.:28:06.

Foster, thanks for your company and see you next year.

:28:07.:28:18.

It's a 1 in a million day for the Great North Run.

:28:19.:28:43.

# Baby, looks as though we run, we run...

:28:44.:28:55.

1 million runners, 1 million stories!

:28:56.:29:00.

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