The Great North Run is arguably the most famous half marathon in the country, possibly even further afield, and this year three members of Newport & District Running Club made the journey to Tyneside to take on the iconic route. As ever, this year’s race started in Newcastle city centre, and runners made their way to the coast as they passed through Gateshead and South Tyneside on the way to the famous coastal finish at South Shields.

This year’s “GNR” medal

The trio of Novaportans taking on the race this year consisted of Helen Holdroyd, Anne Strowger and Pat Arnot, and it was Helen who led the way, clocking a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 9 seconds and finishing in 15,481st place in a field of around 60,000 runners. Pat finished around 10 minutes later, her time of 2:20:43 securing 21,828th position, and Anne stopped the clock at 2:29:56, just beating the 150-minute mark for 27,206th place.

Helen, Pat and Anne celebrate after the race!

This year’s race was officially started by Newcastle United Manager Eddie Howe and was also Mo Farah’s final race before retirement (he came in 4th). The Newport team met legendary distance runner (and founder of the Great North Run!) Brendan Foster before the race, and he wished them well on their way!

Pat, Anne and Helen meet Brendan Foster!