Race Date: Sunday 7th September 2025

Race Report by Stuart Jones

Great North Run 2025
The One With The Wrong River

I’ve always been put off doing the GNR, mostly by the complexity of the logistics required, and a bit by the price. It turns out that the logistics are easy enough, and as they’ve been doing this since 1981 (see back of t-shirts that say ‘Every one since 81’) their organisation of the event itself is really good.

The day ran like this for me:

06:05 alarm (because those extra 5 minutes in bed are so beneficial)

06:10 cup of tea, small bowl of cereal, first toilet visit of the day.

06:25 take bags out of bedroom, to get dressed elsewhere (so as not to disturb). Race number was pinned to the t-shirt chosen but not worn at this point – it would go on later.

06:40 check bags (to take) again – phone, wallet, water / juice, toilet roll, dextrosol tablets, small towel, anti-chafe cream, plastic bag to hold sweaty gear on return, small orange, small malt loaf, whistle (Acme Thunderer), foil blanket (unused), small first aid kit, race instructions that came with the race number, t-shirt with race number, luggage label, spare pins.

06:50 after saying goodbye, loosely fasten shoes and head out of the house.

06:55 drive to Darlington, for the TAC photo on Platform 2 at 07:50, having parked in a dodgy side street near the station.

07:58 board a train earlier (by 4 minutes) than the one I booked on, but the station was busy and staff said we could use any train.

08:31 arrive Newcastle Central Station, to walk the mile and a half up through town to Exhibition Park entrance and the Town Moor assembly area.

08:35 after passing out through the open gates, take a banana and bottle of water courtesy of LNER. Eat the banana there and then, and carry the water.

08:45 to 09:10 pause to snap a couple of photos of interesting bollards.

09:10 arrive on Town Moor, to check out the baggage drop buses, and the toilet queue. Decide to join the queue for toilet visit number 2 of the day.

09:15 see Kate Scott in the loo-queue.

09:20 that done, sit on the grass for a while, before getting the race t-shirt on, and then placing my bright yellow bag on luggage drop bus 3. I put my bag downstairs, so I wouldn’t have to do the stairs later. Very secure system, where a volunteer at the bus door checked you had a race number getting on, and wrote a big 3 on my race number as I got off. Simple, but clever.

9:25 wait.

9:50 decided on one last wee, so I joined the queue for the urinals – I had to jog to reach the back of the queue – it was growing quicker than my walking pace!

10:05 joined the growing mass who were leaving Town Moor for the Orange starting pens. There was another security check as we left, to weed out anyone who was trying to move forward (from Green or Pink start zones) to Orange. Nice chat with armed Police Officers on the bridge.

10:10 Spotted a (male) Strider going up the bank for a semi-discrete wee in the bushes as I was walking up and round to the correct pen. This is the one issue – with such a crowd there is a lengthy gap between the last toilet visit and the race start – many people need a wee.

10:15 in place for the warm-up, but could neither see nor hear it. Are they just for TV really? Saw the elite start on the big screen – our Eilish got the biggest cheer. Big wait.

10:50 mass start, apparently, but not back in Orange section D. Elites, then Stripes, then A, B, C, and D. (Then Green, and finally Pink). An interesting diamond-shaped set-up of barriers prevented any pushing or shoving leading to the space immediately before the start line.

11:14 ish cross the start line.

The first 2 miles were easy – 8-minute mile pace, and feeling fine.

Took out my whistle to salute the volunteers on the Cancer Research bus, and then a drum band just after.

The next two miles suggested I needed a wee stop, so I watched the doors of toilets at mile 4. Toilet visit 4 of the day, costing a couple of minutes.

Miles 4 to 9 were uncomfortable. I felt slightly sick, very hot, and I was sure the whole route was uphill. Turns out it was windy! My pace dropped to nearer 9 minutes per mile. I grimaced at the free photo cameras.

I couldn’t bear any more of the ‘uphill’, which was actually into the wind, and, very unusually for me, I had to walk for a while, making the pace drop out to 10-minute mile pace.

I find shouting at myself makes no difference, but I shouted anyway, and got going again. Posed as best I could for the advertised free photo:

The drop to the sea front was too steep for me – heel strikes and leaning back all the way down. I didn’t mind the last mile at all – some complain that it feels very long, but there’s a huge crowd by now and that drags you along.

13:13 ish cross the finish line in a few seconds under 2 hours.

13:14 get directed to the water by a helpful, and sympathetic, First Aider.

13:20 collect goody bag and medal.

13:25 like most people, do not recognise any fault with the heavy medal; it looked good to me.

13:40 make my way to the circle of baggage buses down in the ‘stadium’, where there are similar security checks (to make sure that that is your bag).

13:50 towel down, remove and bag sweaty top, drink water and juice, eat the snacks I’d brought, put back on the t-shirt I’d been wearing pre-race. Watch people doing the ‘Brit on a Beach with a Towel Round the Waist Changing Pants’ thing, some using a foil blanket, others an actual towel. Rest and mildly stretch.

14:15 walk back up and out of the bus encampment, passing the various queues for selfies (at the AJ Bell bell, and the giant GNR sign), with a decision to make – Metro (a 20-minute walk away) or bus (nearer, but slower).

14:30 Having seen how many buses were lined up (loads), and how they were organised (over here for Newcastle, over there for the Ferry, and over there just for South Shields), I opted for a bus. Good decision. I did not queue at all – I simply walked up to a set of access points and was pointed down one line. This led straight up to the door of the next bus. £4.50 on a direct no-stopping bus to Haymarket bus station back in Newcastle.

15:23 arrive at Haymarket, to walk down through the town to Central Station.

15:50 arrived at Central Station, studied the departures board and crossed to the right platform for a train due in 4 minutes heading to Kings X, via Durham and Darlington. Paid a paltry amount on the train, as my ticket was for another, later, service.

16:32 arrived back at Darlo, and then drove home arriving at around 17:25.

A long day, but the organisation by all the involved organisations was superb.

As for cost, it’s probably reasonable given the complexity of the event. The booking fee of £3.00 on top of the £62.00 entry fee niggles, though. And the optional £30 extra for ‘membership’ that gives you the guarantee of entry for two years (that you still have to pay for, of course) is taking the Michael.

I’m off to the USA shortly, and looking for a nearby race to enter while over there – even a low-key small race comes in at $40 to $60 for on-the-day entry, so by comparison maybe GNR is not so pricey.

Will I do it again? – well, I entered the 2026 September Ballot and, not having bought a membership, I was not successful. Would’a, but won’t.

Instead I’ll be running the Great Westmorland Trail Race (see my next report) or heading to Budapest for their Half, usually on the same weekend as the GNR.

Stuart Jones

Twenty-three Striders were among 60,000 runners who lined up for the Great North Run. The men’s race was won by Alexander Mutiso, running for Adidas in a time of 01:00:52. Sheila Chepkirui, also running for Adidas, won the women’s race in a time of 01:09:32. Sean Frame of Red Star won the wheelchair race in a time of 00:49:24.

Striders Results