Curly’s Corner Shop, the blog!

South Shields packed to the rafters!

An unbelievable amount of people turned out on the streets of South Shields this morning to welcome a record number of runners in the 2008 Great North Run. The event took place on a cool morning in bright sunshine, just perfect for the half marathon from Newcastle.

I was out and about nice and early to savour the atmosphere with the hundreds of volunteer workers in the charity village set up on The Leas behind the finishing points, and to see the areas set aside for the 52,000 runners to recuperate with massages, refreshments, and to meet waiting family members.

The elite women’s race was won by Ethiopia’s Gete Wami who had a thrilling neck and neck sprint finish with Great Britain’s Jo Pavey who eventually finished in third place having lost the battle just a few feet from the finishing line. Despite the size of the crowds at the finishing area and around the Bamburgh the real atmosphere and noise was coming from farther up the Coast Road, as many of those that I spoke to had arrived in South Shields from all over the country to support family and friends who were taking part.

Another Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede won the elite man’s race in a cracking time, and it turns out that he is the shortest man in the history of the race to win it. There were loads of celebrities entered but I didn’t get to see any of them, but if they were looking for support and encouragement they wouldn’t find it difficult with the crowds at the Nook and the Marsden Inn making the most noise in South Shields.

I missed the Red Arrows this year, well I heard and saw them from my living room window, but I was hungry by then and the camera had been put away. A quick trip to Asda this afternoon showed the amount of human traffic as a great tide of people was moving up Ocean Road to the Metro Station in King Street, unfortunately there were hardly any shops open for them to get refreshment or spend any money (but I guess they don’t carry much on a 13.5 mile run.)

Here are some pictures that I captured at the finish line – click the thumbnails to enlarge. More pictures will be available in South Shields Daily Photo during the course of the next week.

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