Youngsters have day in sun after GNR delay
FAMILIES OUT IN FORCE TO SUPPORT YOUNG ATHLETES
HUNDREDS of youngsters flocked to Newcastle’s Quayside yesterday to take part in the Junior and Mini Great North Runs.
It was a beautifully sunny autumn day down by the Tyne for the event, with young runners raring to go as families and friends cheered on from the sidelines.
There was a fantastic atmosphere in the city for the action-packed event as the runners got warmed up ready for the race. The 4km Junior run is for children aged between nine and 16, while the Mini event is 1.2km and open to kids aged three to eight. Originally due to take place in September, the races were postponed following the news of The Queen’s death.
The runs began by crossing the Swing Bridge, with Junior runners doing an out-and-back section towards the Redheugh Bridge, before rejoining the Mini route that headed along the Gateshead Quayside, past the Sage Gateshead and the Baltic.
All runners then ran across the Millennium Bridge before their big finish near the Law Courts.
The event comes almost a month after the adult Great North Run, undoubtedly one of the biggest events in the region which sees around 60,000 runners take on the half marathon between Newcastle and South Shields. The Great North 5k also took place on Friday evening, with a stunning rainbow greeting runners as they crossed the finish line.
Among those taking part in today’s races was Caroline Topley, 37, who ran the Mini Great North Run with her fiveyear-old daughter May.
They ran together to raise money for the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital, where May had a heart transplant when she was just 18 months old. Caroline said: “They saved her life.”
Andrew Graham, 39, and his wife Andrea, 38, also ran the Mini run with their four children – eight-year-old Luca, six-year-old Theo, four-year-old Nate and one-year-old Cole.
The family were running to raise funds for Heel & Toe Children’s Charity in County Durham.
Andrew said his son Theo, who has Prada-willi syndrome, uses Heel and Toe Children’s Charity. He said: “It’s our third time at the event, this is the first time we have done it when we’ve only had one pushchair!”
The event unveiled new official mascot Tyney the Tortoise, “a true Geordie at heart” inspired by the iconic Tyne bridge. The Junior and Mini Great North Run will be back on Saturday, September
9 next year.