Speed Trap Friday @ PUMA

This likes like fun! Wonder if jogscotland would beat Google!

Haile Gebrselassie Post Race Interview Berlin Marathon 2009

2009 Bupa Great North Run

Team Currie, that is myself (Alistair), my brother Alan and our mum, Pat, ran the Bupa Great North Run yesterday. We had decided last week that we would all run together as both Alan and I have had injuries of late and hadn't put in sufficient running miles in training to be sure that we could race at our own respective levels. Once we had made the decision to run together it was clear that it was the right one and that it was going to be a memorable and hugely rewarding day for all of us. Dad (Andy) was despatched off to South Shields at an unholy hour of the morning to wait for us at the finish and we set off for the start, being chauffeured by my sister-in-law, Ann (Alan's wife). Thanks to the very kind Lynsey at Nova (the organisers) we had guest passes to the start area and this gave us a unique and privileged opportunity to get close to some of the celebrity participants for a quick chat. Check the videos below to see what everyone had to say before we set off for the 13.1 miles down to the coast.

In the woods at the photoshoot

Shots on the beach

Start of the jogscotland PUMA photoshoot

My mum and dad with 'John Stapes' from Coronation Street

With mum and Alan after the run, got the medal and the T-shirt, go Team Currie

Gordon and Tana Ramsey getting interviewed

After the finish, under 2:15 for my mum

At 2 miles

Tyne bridge

Sting about to set us off on the Great North Run

My brother Alan with Phil Brown, Hull City Manager

The jogster about to interview Alastair Campbell

First girl in the junior run

This is Nike's equivalent of jogscotland!

Sonia O'sullivan with her kids in the junior run

Christine Ohuruogu with Jonathan Edwards and Colin Jackson

Women's 150m at the CityGames

Marlon Devonish after his win in the 150m

Men's mile on the quayside

Women's 2 miles

Colin Jackson and Jonathan Edwards in deep conversation as they wait to go live on the BBC

The CityGames track at Gateshead quayside

This is the track that has been laid on the quayside, amazing to see athletics presented in this way!

Rachel and I with Colin Jackson before the start of the mini run

STING TO BE HONORARY STARTER OF THE BUPA GREAT NORTH RUN

I just heard today that Sting is going to be the official starter at this year’s Great North Run, which I am running along with Team Currie, Rachel is doing the mini run on Saturday as are her cousins, Jonathan, Matthew and Charlotte and then on the Sunday my mum and brother, Alan, are doing the half marathon. My claim to fame with Sting is that he wore my tartan scarf at a Police concert at the Playhouse in December 1983. I had thrown it onstage and he picked it up and wore it for a couple of numbers, at the end the bouncers were handing back stuff that was lying on the stage and when they went to hand my scarf back I put my hand out but sadly about 10 other people wanted a shred of it as a souvenir and I ended up with just a little scrap left as it got pulled to pieces! Oh well, at least the memory is fully intact!

Sting used to do a bit of running so it’s a shame he isn’t taking part, I remember an old photo of him running up a hill in Montserrat while the Police were there recording, I couldn’t find the pic online but I did find the one above. Check that mullet … classic! Frank Bruno, also in the pic, used to do a lot of running and has run the Great North Run as well as the London Marathon, in fact it took me about 10 miles one year in London to get past him as he had started right at the front, I think he was being slowed down though by some massive headphones and a portable CD player – that was in the days before iPods and tiny little headphones!

Here’s what Nova have to say about Sting (and Steve Harmison, but he’s not as famous as Sting in my book!):

“Musician Sting will return to Newcastle on Sunday to act as an honorary starter of the 2009 Bupa Great North Run. He will be joined by cricketer Steve Harmison, who was part of the England Ashes cricket winning team this summer.

The pair will be setting a record 54,000 runners on their way in the 29th staging of the world’s biggest and most prestigious half marathon.

Sting is looking forward to the occasion. “The Great North Run is a real success story for the region, I’m delighted to have been given the honour of firing the starter’s gun at such a wonderful event.”

Durham and England cricketer Steve Harmison, who as a child took part in the Junior Great North Run, is also eagerly anticipating the occasion. He said, “It’s been a great summer. Winning the Ashes and the County Championship, and now starting the Bupa Great North Run with none other than Sting. Fantastic!”

Brendan Foster, Chairman of organisers Nova International, said “It’s a huge privilege for us to be able to welcome Sting and Steve Harmison to the Bupa Great North Run and I am certain that they will enjoy a great reception from our record field of runners”.

The Bupa Great North Run will be televised live on Sunday morning on BBC ONE from 09.30 until 13.30, with a live programme also on BBC Radio 5 Live. On the preceding day the first Great North CityGames, between England and Australia, will take place on the NewcastleGateshead Quayside along with the Bupa Junior and Mini Great North Run, in which 5,000 children will take part.”

Report and photos to follow here next week.

Awesome 800m run!

This is breathtaking - it years since anyone ran this fast and I don't think there has ever been a 1:42 race where 3 other guys were chasing all the way to the line!

Is there any hope?

One of the toughest aspects for anyone working in the health promotion and physical activity sector is that the good work that goes on constantly gets undermined by the negative stories and messages pushed to all in society, but particulularly damaging to the impressionable younger generation, by adverts on TV, newspapers, Internet and on our high streets.

I passed this recent addition to my own local high street today and thought it was a perfect symbol of the tough job we have ahead. There are no independant fruit and veg shops in the town I live but there are plenty of takeaways, chippies, bakeries, pubs and now a sweet shop.

I probably sound like a killjoy for even hinting that kids shouldn't go to the sweet shop at lunchtime but I think every local community and local council has to look long and hard at what is on offer locally and get the balance right between the healthy and the unhealthy.

It was reported recently that a school in Glasgow is locking kids in at lunchtime to stop them going to the junk food sellers that surround the school, that sounds like a draconian measure but has it got so bad that we have to resort to locking up our sons and daughters for the good of their own health? I hope not ...