Great North Run Reimagined
The Great North Run cancellation means we can't all get together to run the famous 13.1 mile route on 13 September, so today we're launching Great North Run Reimagined, a campaign to ensure our runners and charities can still mark the occasion.
Great North Run Reimagined is a virtual running campaign, created to provide you with a Great North Run experience to remember. We're thinking outside the box to recreate an experience as close as possible to the real event. From your training and preparation, right down to a virtual race experience, we will put the framework in place so that you can still Be Your Greatest. It won't be as good as the real thing, but we hope it will be an opportunity for us to celebrate all that is great about the event and the people who make it even greater.
The Great North Run Reimagined campaign will feature Great North Run Solo, launching today, and the 'Official' Virtual Great North Run, with more features to be revealed over the coming weeks.
The Great North Run is an important day in the calendar for the North East, competitors, spectators & many others, but in particular for charities. Through your blood, sweat and tears over £25m is raised for charity each year. With your help and through the GNR Reimagined campaign, we're hoping to still raise a significant fundraising total.
GREAT NORTH RUN SOLO – A RUN FOR EVERY YEAR
We're sad that the Great North Run has been cancelled but we want to help our runners to keep running, and train for the virtual Great North Run. So we've launched Great North Run Solo! What's more, by taking part runners will be raising funds for our amazing NHS with ALL PROFITS going to the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal.
Great North Run Solo starts on 28 June (the birthday of the Great North Run) and runs until 13 September – the day the 40th Great North Run was scheduled to take place. The challenge is to complete 40 runs over the 78 days (between 28 June & 13 September), a run for each year of the Great North Run. There is also junior challenge available for younger runners.
You can run at any pace and distance that is comfortable. Every runner who completes a minimum of 40 runs will receive a special edition Great North Run Solo medal and digital certificate. The challenge costs £10 to join, and ALL PROFITS will go to the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal. For those runners who also like a distance challenge, the second part of the challenge is for you. There are three distance levels and every runner completing a Bronze (100 miles +), Silver (200 miles +) or Gold (300 miles +) distance over the 40 runs will receive recognition of their achievement.
We are encouraging everyone who joins Great North Run Solo to fundraise for a Great North Run charity who otherwise would miss out this year. Choose a charity and encourage your friends, family and wider supporter network to rally behind you as you embark on your virtual GNR experience.
Entries are open now and you can join the challenge here.
YOUR RACE REIMAGINED
This year is different. We won't be on the start line, we aren't waiting for you at the finish, you won't have thousands cheering you on… But you can still 'Be Your Greatest!'
We are busy creating a Virtual Great North Run experience so that on Sunday 13 September you have an official 13.1 mile virtual race to participate in. Our aim is to make it as close an experience as possible to the real event so that you'll be inspired to lace up your trainers and complete the 13.1 miles.
The Virtual Great North Run will be available for anyone to participate in, regardless if you had a place in the Great North Run or not and we urge you to do so for a charity of your choice. Click here to see a list of our official Great North Run charities to choose one to fundraise for.
We'll be sharing more information about GNR Virtual shortly so watch this space…
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