Great
North Run - History
- The
first ever Great North Run was staged on the 28th June, 1981.
- Back
then only 12,000 runners participated - that's 35,000 runners short of the
number of entrants this year!
- The
event was devised by former Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist and BBC Sport
commentator Brendan Foster.
- Foster
was inspired after running in the Round the Bays Race in New Zealand in
1979.
- For
the first year it was advertised as a local fun run - twenty years on it
has become one of the biggest running events in the world.
