WE took a look back at the extraordinary achievements of ordinary people completing the Great North Run over the years, which will celebrate its 42nd anniversary in September 2023.
In 2022, on the 41st year of the Great North Run which saw an estimated £25 million raised for worthwhile causes, two Hexham Courant reporters participated in the event.
The beginning of the event was marked with a 60,000 strong silent tribute to honour the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Fun runners and elite athletes alike ran under a billboard of the longest-serving monarch, after God Save the King rung out over the Newcastle start line.
In 2015, Rebecca Griffin from Prudhoe ran the entire route from Newcastle to South Shields.
A remarkable achievement in itself, it was more so because of the fact she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome ME six years prior, and was largely reliant on supportive family members to assist her on a daily basis.
She completed the Great North Run in 2012 and 2013 when she was pushed around in a wheelchair for most of the course.
Rebecca stayed positive throughout her illness and fought her way back to full fitness to complete the full 13 miles in 2015, raising money for Action for Children.
In 2016, family members of the late Sally Allan completed the challenge to help deliver training courses for people with mental health issues.
Sally, from Ponteland, went missing on Boxing Day and it transpired she had taken her own life.
Sally’s son Clive and his wife Annie Eccles completed the half-marathon, raising money for national charity Mind.
In 2019, Maia Grey completed the course in memory of her best friend Rhya Story, who was from Greenhead and died suddenly from an inoperable brain tumour in 2015.
Maia decided to raise money for Brain Tumour Research after discovering the disease killed more people under 40 than any other cancer, but just one per cent of national spend on cancer research was allocated to brain tumours.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here