AJ Bell Great North Run 2026
The world's biggest half marathon. 60,000 runners from Newcastle across the Tyne Bridge to the coast at South Shields, with the Red Arrows overhead.
2026 edition completed
This record covers the 13 September 2026 edition of AJ Bell Great North Run in Newcastle to South Shields. This date belongs to a completed edition. The course record remains available. Course descriptions and coaching notes are archived context for this edition. Check the organiser for a future edition once its date and entry details are published.
“The best atmosphere in British running. Do not bank time on the early descents; the rollers collect the debt by mile 10.”
The race
The course
No course maps for this race. The organiser publishes no downloadable route for any leg of this race, so there is nothing to draw a course map from. Everything below comes from the official course page, checked on the date at the foot of this section.
Newcastle to South Shields, and it is not the flat course its reputation suggests. It starts on the central motorway near the university, dips through the road tunnels where the Oggy Oggy chants start, and crosses the Tyne Bridge into Gateshead. Miles 3 to 5 climb, 5 to 8 give it back. Miles 8 to 12 climb again and that is the hard part of the day. Then a sharp drop to the sea at Mile 12, the first sight of the North Sea, and a flat-ish final mile along the South Shields seafront. 63,000 runners, entry by ballot, and the largest half marathon in the world.
Not yet confirmed for this edition: finish cut-off, elevation gain, drinks station spacing. We publish these only once they are on the official course page, so check there before you pace off anything here.
Course details verified against the official AJ Bell Great North Run course page on 14 August 2026. Courses change; the official page is always the last word.
Questions, answered
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Photograph of Newcastle to South Shields: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Not official race photography.
This listing is for information only. Unbroken is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by AJ Bell Great North Run or its organiser. Details are based on publicly available information; names are used descriptively to identify the event. For accurate, up-to-date information and entry, always use the official event website.