Bupa Great North Run To Celebrate Landmark
The Bupa Great North Run will celebrate an historic landmark in 2014, as it will become the first mass participation running event to reach one million finishers.
With the general entry ballot now open for the half marathon event on 7th September, plans are underway to mark the milestone figure.
According to Nova International, the race organisers, North East England is preparing to link up with the east coast of America when the New York Marathon will become the second event to reach the milestone figure, two months’ later on 2nd November.
Mike McLeod was the first ever Great North Run finisher back in 1981, the year before he claimed Olympic 10,000m silver in Los Angeles. In 2013 the event attracted a record number of entries with over 120,000 people applying to take part, from which 56,000 entrants were accepted.
Among those in action on the South Shields seafront last year were three of the all-time great long-distance runners – Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie, with Bekele eventually winning the sprint finish with Farah.
The Bupa Great North Run is televised live on BBC One and across Europe on Eurosport, with a highlights programme being shown in more than 100 countries across the world.
The ballot will close at midday on Wednesday 5th February, with all successful and unsuccessful applicants notified by email on or before Wednesday 12th February.
