There was endeavour, stoicism and determination in every stride taken.
But there were also smiles, waves, a feeling of togetherness and community….and around £25million raised for charities. If there was an event that represented Queen Elizabeth’s values and reign, it was the Great North Run on Sunday.
Some 50,000 runners were registered to make the 13.1mile journey, the elite in just over an hour, some taking half the day. But from event winners Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, Kenyan Hellen Obiri (67.05) and wheelchair winners David Weir and Eden Rainbow-Cooper, to the slowest walker at the back, all were united in believing it was far better to get on with it and take part, than call the event off.
While football’s leaders decided it was better to mark the Queen’s death on Thursday with a respectful pause from the Premier League down the pyramid to kids football, organiser and founder Sir Brendan Foster and his team had a different plan.
Sports biggest mass participation event got the mood spot on. Why wouldn’t it? Thousands were running to raise cash in memory of their own loved ones. Parents, children, relatives who had died or suffered illness. So for many the grief felt for the Queen will have reawakened the pain of their own difficulties, and the need to remember and make good.
Temporarily suspended for this year, was the usual whooping up of excitement, mass warm up and stretching. Instead there was a somber black screen at the start line with the Queen’s portrait.
The acting Bishop of Newcastle Mark Wroe addressed the runners on behalf of all faiths. Quoting Apostle Paul, he added: “‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.’ We run this race in tribute to her life and spirit.”
At 10.42am an impeccable minute of silence stretched from the start line along the snaking mass of runners. The national anthem was then sung with many runners, heads bowed and emotional at the collective show of unity, but also smiles, and when the gun was fired by Eilish McColgan they were off.
It was the first time in three years, because of Covid disruption, that the run had followed its traditional course, from Newcastle to South Shields. As they streamed over the line, Sir Brendan, knighted by the Queen, reflected: “The overall feeling was the Great North Run was about coming together.
“In moments of mourning as across the country people have wanted to come together. It would have been the Queen’s wishes, in our view, to come together. If you look at the atmosphere it is reflective. She led an amazing life, led by great example.
“I was more emotional than I thought I’d be. It takes you to your own family and own lives and now she is gone. The mood is a little somber here.”
Foster saw first hand the Queen’s love of a race. “When she gave me the CBE she talked about the Great North Run and knew of its significance. She also gave me my first medal in the Commonwealth Games in 1970. I saw pictures of the queen jumping up and down watching the finish. I was so proud to receive my first medal from her.”
The Newcastle fan added: “The Queen presented the FA Cup in 1955 to Newcastle United! (the last time they won it).
“She came to open the leisure centre at Gateshead and we had a beautiful day. We handed her the civic pen and the pen didn’t work. She went to her handbag and had a nice pen of her own and just smiled.”
By the finish, thousands of runners were smiling, race-run, charities strengthened, and with the 41st running of the event, tradition continued.
