Great North 5k, 11th September 2026
Lena Lou reports on her ‘warm-up’ for the Great North Run:
“On Friday the Great North 5k took place, with perfect weather conditions and a well organised event as usual.
The route follows a fairly ‘flat’ course, starting on the Quayside going west around the roundabout and over the swing bridge before a long out and back on the Gateshead side towards the Staiths and back, ending with crossing the iconic Millennium Bridge.
Due to knowing I’d be racing on Sunday and a knee niggle I couldn’t quite shake, I decided to race in the carbons but not go all out. That being said, the extra boost really made it easy to push the pace and I was very surprised to finish as 10th lady on the night.
With it being a mostly out and back course, it was lovely seeing familiar faces (definitely being more sensible than me ahead of Sundays Half Marathon!).”
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 119 | Lena Lou | 21:07 |
| 217 | Nicki O’Brien (2nd VF45) | 22:40 |
| 473 | Madeleine Axon | 25:25 |
| 1217 | Becky Webster | 32:33 |
