Great North Adventures
After a four year break I had re-joined the Great North Run Membership club which has given me guaranteed entry for 2026 and 2027 so on Saturday 12th September we started our journey "ooop North"! For a bit of reference, the last time I had run was in 2022 in 03:02:04 which I didn't document on here, but I did write about our trip in 2021 when I managed 02:59:32. This time I had been running 11km in 90 minutes so was again aiming for 3 hours - fingers crossed!
After a fun evening the night before watching Dirty Dancing outdoors at Stonor Park with Adventure Cinema, I was up with the lark at 4am on Saturday 12th September and we drove to Uxbridge to park at my parents' house in Cowley. I had been expecting to be dropping my car keys through their door and walk the 20 minutes up the road to get the airport bus but somehow my Dad was awake and drove us to the bus stop at the top of The Greenway on the Uxbridge Road. Legend!
A quick shout out here for the airport bus!! The Uxbridge-based A10 is a bloody fantastic service and avoids all the faff of airport drop charges (now a scandalous £7 at Heathrow!) or airport parking and takes just 23 minutes from Uxbridge Bus Station to Heathrow Central Bus Station. Additionally, for anybody considering the wonderousness of a night in my hometown of Uxbridge prior to their flight, there is a Premier Inn right in the bus station itself with Premier Plus rooms so you can roll out of bed and onto a bus. Monday to Saturday, the A10 airport buses take start running at 03:50 all the way through to midnight every 20 minutes and every 30 minutes after 7pm. On Sundays they run every 30 minutes throughout the day. The bus fares are currently £1.75 per adult and 85p for children like Tiger aged 5-17. Bargain!
Thanks to our lift, Tiger and I ended up catching the 05:53 bus and were watched the sun rise from the top deck! Traveling with British Airways we had to get from the Heathrow Central Bus Station via the train to get to Terminal 5. Once we got to the terminal, we made a special effort to go to the family check in area so Tiger could get her free British Airways Skyflyer activity pack - complete with eye mask, socks, crayons and postcards to colour in - definitely worth the diversion to get this!
We then had to get the transit train to the gate and (phew!) finally we were safely boarded onto our flight. We were due to leave at 08:05 and arrive in Newcastle for 09:10 and were more or less on time. The original flight was £204 flying up on Saturday and back on Sunday at 16:20 but as that would have been super tight, we actually ended up changing our plans and buying an additional Monday evening return flight for £36 with lots of Avois points. The 55-minute flight is so quick that you don't even get a coffee - just a bottle of water and a snack!
Once in Newcastle we took the Metro green line to Newcastle Central Station (£5.10 for one adult and as a child Tiger was free) and from there the train to Eaglescliffe via Darlington (£11.40 with a Friends and Family Railcard).
My lovely friend Ruth who lives in Stockton picked us up from Eaglescliffe and we had a relaxing afternoon with her at her house, popping out to the park with Tiger and having dinner before she dropped us to the Premier Inn Stockton-on-Tees (Preston Farm). Ruth's triplets Sammy, Jakey and Benji are now 14 and giants! Due to the run, the hotel was actually fully booked for Saturday night - luckily we'd booked in advance for £70 for the Saturday and £41 for the Sunday night. Whilst we didn't see any runners - apparently they were very much there!
On Great North Run day, Sunday 13th September, Ruth picked us up at 07:30 and dropped me to Darlington station as there wasn't an early train from Eaglescliffe. It was when I got to Darlington that the Great North Run madness really started. All the trains were delayed and I just jumped on the wrong train (but approximately the right time - 08:02) as I couldn't for the life of me think anybody would be physically able to check tickets. It was standing room only and I found myself next to Superman!! I felt a little sorry for those trying to get on at Durham as the train was so busy.
I arrived into Newcastle at about half past eight and there were thousands and thousands of runners passing through the station - there was a bit of queuing to just get off the platform, over the bridge and out of the barriers. I decided to wait some twenty minutes for the Boots inside the station to open at 9am to get my blister-preventative plasters but luckily it was next to a small Greggs so whilst I'd planned something a bit more luxurious, my Great North Run ended up being fuelled by two Greggs sausage rolls and a coffee!
With hindsight, I probably should have just walked to Haymarket but took the Metro which was an experience in itself being crammed into the carriages! Maybe not next year...
As I neared the start, I had plenty of time to strap my feet up, drop my bag into the baggage bus, have a wee, find safety pins, decorate my running number, and move through to the start. With 63,000 runners now to manage, the start is now via a big field.
It did seem quite a while to get over the start line in the midday sun so, whilst I very much wasn't in a rush, I think for next year I will try to get further forward. I eventually crossed the start line at 12:16!
Whilst running, I tuned into my pre-planned first Peloton 90-minute 90s outdoor run with Susie Chan and then later switched onto a Matt Wilpers 90-minute rock run - both tried and tested in training. Both these kept me steady and I truly oved the entire run and couldn't stop smiling! The crowds were simply amazing and I helped myself to sweets all the way around, ran through every single shower and must have tipped about eight bottles of water over my head. I stopped just twice every so briefly for a quick loo stop and to walk to change the Peloton class.
Overall, my strategy was slow and steady wins the race. I ran up the Prince Edward Road hill which is towards the end before you reach the coast, which I wasn't convinced I would be able to do. I ran the entire way around averaging 7.48 km per hour (12.33 miles per hour) which was faster than any of the training runs I had recorded - must have been the incredible atmosphere! I was particularly surprised when I heard the 2 hour 30 minute Map My Run announcement in my headphones around the 12 mile mark and realised I was so close to the finish in great time. My time ended up being 02:44:38 which was around 15 minutes faster than I had been expecting!
After the run, I managed not to sit down but kept walking, got my medal, t-shirt and goody bag, picked up my bag from the baggage bus and kept walking to the fairground to the my charity meeting point at Sandhaven RNLI lifeguard station. There I met three other runners (including one RNLI volunteer crew, Dalton, and a guy who told me it was his 40th - and last! - Great North Run) and was able to finally take my trainers off (!) and get changed. On the way out, one of the other RNLI runners was walking towards me - James Waters had run the whole race dressed in full on RNLI kit/uniform in 03:34 not far behind me!
I had initially signed up for the Great North Run for myself, rather than for a charity but a few months before the run, our wonderful friend Ian Gibson passed away. The collection at his funeral was for the RNLI and I since found out that he was a life-long RNLI supporter. So I decided to dedicate the run to Ian and the RNLI. Thank you to everybody who sponsored me and helped me raise £618 for the RNLI.
Having left the RNLI lifeguard station, I took what was probably the most expensive Uber of my life £46.98 for the 29-minute journey to Sunderland railway station... but at least I made it for my 17:30 train with just ten minutes to spare! I had splashed out on a first class ticket for the 47 minute trip at £16.70 but it was without doubt quite lovely to have a comfortable seat and some first class freebies - coffee and snacks!
Ruth kindly picked me up from Eaglescliffe, with Tiger who had had a lovely day going swimming, crafting pom pom animals and meeting Ruth's friend's puppy. Back at the hotel, I made full use of the huge bag of Epsom Muscle Soak Bath Salts that was in my Great North Run goody bag and collapsed into bed!
On the Monday, we had a late Premier Inn breakfast with Ruth before she dropped us back to Eaglescliffe station. As our flight back to London wasn't until the evening, we headed to Durham for the afternoon by train (£6.80). As by now I had all our bags - little trolley, backpack, handbag and a shopping bag - I found a Stasher point for £10.98 (for two small bags - our backpack and small trolley bag) at a computer shop called Dotcom Systems at 50 North Road near Durham train station. I was really debating with myself whether this was worth the money but in the end I was glad we did - it was a definitely a relief not to lug the bags around with us around hilly Durham!
We headed straight for Durham Cathedral and once inside hot footed it to see the Lego Durham Cathedral. Tiger also had a good 20 minutes playing with Lego whilst I watched the History of Durham Cathedral in Lego - which is well worth 3 minutes of your time!
Durham Cathedral is free to visit but they very strongly suggest that you try and make a £5 donation and corral you past a visitors desk to do this. We didn't give a donation but instead paid £10 (plus £1 in Gift Aid) to ascend the tower which is one of my favourite things to do in Durham for a completely beautiful view of the city! Technically, children aged 8-17 are allowed to do the climb (and free of charge) so we just about managed to side step this rule with Tiger at age 7.5 - thankfully she is quite tall and nobody questioned us. There are apparently 325 steps but we definitely counted 312 on the way up and the way down so not too sure what happened there. My legs post-run didn't struggle much either which was a huge surprise.
We passed by a fair few souvenir shops on our way back as Tiger was desperate to spend some of her money - we ended up getting a little dolly in the Durham Market Hall which is a good place to go for a few bargains!
Back at Durham station we took the train to Newcastle and then the Metro onwards to Newcastle Airport (£8.40). Our British Airways flight back was supposed to be taking off at 19:20 but was a little delayed to 19:40, arriving back into Heathrow at 20:45.
With any delay, there is really not a great deal to do in Newcastle International Airport in the evening apart from a closed Burger King and a huge bar, which was packing up all around us! But you can fly directly to all over Europe from Newcastle, even as far as Iceland and Dubai and further afield adding in a stop so maybe next time I may go further afield post-run!
Whilst we were back into Terminal 5, thankfully we were UK Arrivals and had no luggage so we were super speedy to get out. My Dad sweetly picked us up by car and drove me to reunite me with my car. By this point, Tiger's batteries had completely run out and she slept the rest of the drive home to Hampshire!
So, Great North Run, I am absolutely back in the running game and already looking forward to running in 2027! My great thanks and admiration to everybody in Newcastle and South Shields who came out and cheered us on, to all the runners, the RNLI and of course deepest love to Ian. I hope you can somehow see all of us down here missing and loving you. As he would have said.... "100%".
Great North Adventures over and out.
