AJ Bell Great North Run: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is on the A167 central motorway in the middle of Newcastle, near Claremont Road. The traditional "Oggy Oggy Oggy!" chant is already echoing through the underpasses of the opening kilometres. The road falls gently through the city until the Tyne Bridge arrives at kilometre 2.8 – the emotional core of the race, with the Red Arrows passing overhead in the morning.

On the south bank the road kicks up noticeably into Gateshead. Past Gateshead International Stadium (km 4.7) it joins the Felling Bypass (km 5.6), and the course rolls upward to its high point at around kilometre 8. From there it trends gently downhill for a long stretch along Leam Lane (km 11.9) through Jarrow – the fastest section of the day, and precisely the one where legs empty without announcing it.

At kilometre 13.7 the course's best-known test begins: John Reid Road, a roughly five-kilometre undulating drag climbing into South Shields. Between miles 8 and 12 this is where most runners first lose their rhythm. The compensation is the crowd – in pinch points like The Nook (km 17.5) the noise reaches stadium level.

At kilometre 19 the North Sea opens up and the road plunges down the Marsden bank to the coast. The final mile and a half runs flat along the Coast Road beside the water to the finish on the South Shields sea front.

Pacing Strategy

Two things make the Great North Run harder than its net downhill suggests: the start, and the order of the climbs.

The start is the classic trap. The first three kilometres fall away, the field is enormous, the Tyne Bridge is the moment everyone came for – and the watch then shows a pace this profile will not sustain. Expect the pull up into Gateshead on the far side of the bridge to deliver the first honest feedback.

The ordering is the real problem. The long, gently falling middle section between kilometre 8 and 13 invites you to press, and the decisive climb comes only afterwards: John Reid Road from kilometre 13.7, five undulating kilometres uphill, arriving exactly where a half marathon normally starts racing. Run the middle under control and this section can be shaped; spend it there and the section is only survived.

On the Marsden descent at kilometre 19 it pays not to hammer – your quads will collect on the final kilometre. And the Coast Road is exposed: a North Sea headwind can make the finish considerably more expensive than the flat profile looks.

On this course, even effort beats even splits by a wide margin.

Training plan for AJ Bell Great North Run: 12-week build

For age-group runners, roughly 1:45 to 3 hours is realistic. The minimum age is 17 on event day.

The demand is aerobic and rhythmic. A hundred and forty-three metres of climbing over twenty-one kilometres makes this no hill race, but the rollers sit close enough together that pace has to breathe with the profile the whole way – even effort rather than even splits. The base for that is threshold work (3 × 12 up to 2 × 20 minutes at half marathon pace) and long runs of eighteen to twenty-six kilometres.

Three things are specific. First the drag in the final third: long runs whose fastest kilometres come at the end, and goal-pace blocks run deliberately on tired legs, build exactly that quality. Second the downhill running – the falling start and the Marsden descent take a real toll on unprepared quads, so brisk downhill segments belong in the long runs on purpose. Third the wind: running tempo sessions into it, and testing race kit in it, pays off on the Coast Road.

A mid-September date puts the decisive weeks in high summer. Move long runs to the morning and practise drinking on the move. And one detail that is regularly underestimated: with 60,000 starters you will stand in your pen far longer than you are used to – the early alarm, the long wait and the late start deserve one full rehearsal on a long training day.