Bupa Great North Run Entry Ballot Opens

The general entry ballot is now open for the 2012 Bupa Great North Run, which is to be staged on Sunday 16th September.?

?The Bupa Great North Run will be the first major mass participation running event after the London Olympics.

More
than 50 Olympic and Paralympic medals have been won by athletes from a
number of different sporting backgrounds, all of who have competed in
the Bupa Great North Run since it was first staged in 1981, including
the greatest distance runner in history Haile Gebrselassie, who
triumphed in 2010.??

The Bupa Great North Run attracted a record
number of applications in 2011, with over 100,000 people applying to
take part, from which 54,000 successful entrants were accepted.  

Every
post code region in the country was represented on the start line and
an estimated £30 million was raised by runners for hundreds of
charities.??

David Hart, communications director of organisers
Nova International, said: ‘We are incredibly excited that the Bupa Great
North Run takes place so soon after London 2012 and we’ll be planning
to ensure that we join together to celebrate its success .’??

To
register for the ballot prospective applicants should go to
www.greatrun.org, with the ballot set to close at noon on the 6th
February.