Record Turnout For Runners At Great North 10K Gateshead

Entries for the Great North 10k family events will close at 4pm on Friday at www.greatrun.org/north10k

A RECORD turnout of runners will pound the pavements of Tyneside this weekend in the Great North 10K Gateshead.

Around 5,000 runners will line the route on the banks of the Tyne on Sunday, July 3, after unprecedented demand for places resulted in the event – the North-East's biggest 10k – reaching capacity with a fortnight to go.

New for 2016 are the Family Mile and Toddler Dash events, which will give younger runners from the age of three to get in on the action.

North-East music legends Lindisfarne have been announced as honorary starters of this year's event. The band, who saw chart success with Fog on the Tyne and Run For Home, will get the event off to a flying start – and have also lent the name of their biggest hit to the infamous hill on the run's course.

After a campaign on social media to name the incline towards the finish of the 6.2-mile event, Richard Scrimshaw was victorious with his Slog On The Tyne effort.

Runners will take in the sights of Sage Gateshead, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Gateshead Millenium Bridge before finishing inside the iconic Gateshead International Stadium.

And, Apprentice star Katie Bulmer-Cooke is returning to Gateshead to warm up the thousands of runners who are taking on the challenge.

She will then run the 10k event herself as part of her training for the Great North Run this September, where she hopes to beat her personal best of 1 hour 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Gurkhas will once again be out in force. Around 200 of the Nepalese soldiers, based at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, will take part as part of their fitness training.

The Gurkhas are a fixture of the event, with this year's staging representing their fifth outing in Tyneside.

Sgt Jitendra Tamang said: “We feel very proud to be taking part in the Great North 10K again. We are very excited because we will gain a new experience helping us to enhance camaraderie and sportsmanship.

“The Gurkhas are coming – Aayo Gurkhali!”

The event promises to be fun for the whole family, with the Family Mile and Toddler Dash taking place after the main 10K event, giving parents the opportunity to take part in the 10k and then run a mile with their children.

These inclusive events – for all enthusiastic runners aged up to 15 years old – are designed to help families enjoy getting active together.

Children up to age 3 years old can take part in the brand new Toddler Dash, where the tiniest of runners will make their way along the short 60-70m route.

Children aged 3 to 15 years old can enter the Family Mile, where paying adults (16 years old and over) can join them and run together along the mile course.

David Hart, Communications Director at the Great Run Company, said: “We're thrilled to be able to include a family element in the Great North 10k Gateshead this year. It's really important to encourage children to enjoy being active from a young age.

“With the Great North 10k Family Mile and the Great North 10k Toddler Dash, we hope to inspire the young runners of the future to take on the 10k in the years to come!

“We are looking forward to welcoming thousands of people to the iconic Gateshead International Stadium for a special day in the region's running calendar.”

The run finishes in Gateshead International Stadium, the location of Britain's first-ever fun run. Organised for Gateshead Council by Brendan Foster, chairman of the Great Run Company, the 1977 Gateshead Fun Run was a two-mile event which started and finished on the track.

In 2013, Great North 10K organisers invited those who participated in the 1977 event to come back and take part in the event's newest incarnation.