I’ve done the Great North 10k in Gateshead twice before. The first time was in 2016, which was the first and (hopefully!) last time I ever came dead last in a race. That was a special day, strangely. Last year was better for me, but Geth was running it with a broken toe, which wasn’t ideal.
Today was a fairly good race for both of us – it was a hot day, so no overall PBs, but we both got course PBs – mine by about five minutes, so I’m pretty pleased with that. I find the Great North 10k to be quite a pleasant race, as the bulk of it is an out-and-back section where I’m always too preoccupied with looking out for people I know running the other way to dwell too much on my own discomfort, and the views of the Tyne bridges are very pretty. The ninth kilometre, meanwhile, goes through a nice bit of park – there’s a short steep hill at the end of that section that everybody makes a really big deal out of (it’s nicknamed the ‘Slog on the Tyne’, but it only takes a minute or so to jog up it, and it’s really not that hard), and then the last kilometre is a nice flat run into Gateshead Stadium and round the track.
I don’t know if I’ll do it for a fourth time next year, but definitely at some point.