Great North Run 2023: Route, road closures and how to get there
Runners will take to the streets of Newcastle and South Tyneside this weekend for the 42nd Great North Run.
More than 60,000 runners will descend on the North East for a number of events which will be taking place over the course of the weekend. These include the Great North 5k, the AJ Bell Junior and the Mini Great North Run, culminating in the World's biggest half marathon on Sunday 10 September.
Alongside amateur and charity runners, there will be famous faces and elite athletes. They include Sir Mo Farah, who is using the event as his final ever competitive race.
Route
The Great North Run starts on the Central Motorway in Newcastle and finishes on The Leas in South Shields.
The start and assembly areas are located on the Central Motorway. From here, runners will run along Newcastle's central motorway, across the Tyne Bridge and into Gateshead.
Once in Gateshead participants will run along the Felling by-pass, past Gateshead Stadium to the Whitemare Pool Interchange roundabout.
They will then head towards the coast along Leam Lane. Once in South Shields, runners will be directed towards John Reid Road and Prince Edward Road. The finishing stretch sees participants run along the Coast Road, back towards South Shields town, where they will finish on the Leas.
Travel
Event organisers recommend that anyone planning on travelling on public transport on the day of the Great North Run should purchase a special day rover ticket. These will be £6 and can be brought from any metro ticket machine. The rover ticket can be used to travel all day across the Tyne and Wear Metro, any bus service in Tyne and Wear, the Shields ferry or Northern Trains between Newcastle and Sunderland.
Up to three children under the age of 11 can travel for free on the metro system and Shields Ferry if they are with a fee paying adult.
There is no official event parking at the start of the Great North Run, but there will be parking available in South Shields on the Leas. This will be open from 6.15am. After 8am, the Dragon car parking will also be available but is limited.
A number of road closures across Tyneside will be in place throughout the day.
Metro
There will be a number of changes to the opening times of some metro stations, and some will become entrance/ exit only to help ease crowd congestion.
Haymarket - No entry into the station (exit only) from 8.00am until 10.40am. Please use Jesmond.
Jesmond - Closed from 10.40am until early afternoon. Please use Haymarket.
Manors - Closed from 10.40am until early afternoon. Please use Haymarket.
Chichester - Closed from about 1.00pm until early evening. Please use South Shields.
The nearest Metro station to the start line of the Great North Run is Haymarket in Newcastle city centre, which is 15 minutes walk away.
The nearest metro station for those who reach the finish line is South Shields, which is a 15 minute walk from the finish line.
Nexus, which operates the metro, warn that trains will be extremely busy, so people should be prepared to wait in some queues and leave extra time for travelling.
Buses
The race start is about a 15 minute walk from Eldon Square and Haymarket bus stations in Newcastle city centre.
Arriva - Arriva buses are covered by the Day Rover ticket.
For those under the age of 21, unlimited travel tickets for the day can be purchased for £3 in partnership with with Transport North East. This means that people can travel on participating operators services within the Tyne & Wear, Durham, and Northumberland County Council areas. Those under 21 needing to travel on just 2 buses the whole day can buy a £1 single fare ticket.
The £2 single adult fare and standard day ticket fare applies to any single journey outside of the Transport North East offer areas.
Tickets can be bought on board the buses. Arriva recommends using their app to help plan their journeys.
Go North East - Special express R1 shuttle bus services will run from Bents Park to Newcastle.
People are being warned that road closures and additional traffic will make journey times long and passengers should plan accordingly.
Stagecoach North East - A number of services across the South Tyneside and Sunderland areas will be revised. For a full list, click here.
Trains
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is planning to operate an extra six trains, providing thousands of extra seats, to help runners and spectators arrive on Tyneside ahead of this year’s Great North Run.
The extra services will run on the morning of the event and are planned to run between Edinburgh Waverley, Durham, Darlington, Doncaster, Leeds and Newcastle.
Road closures
A number of roads will be closed across the course of Sunday 10 September:
A167 Central Motorway from 8pm on Saturday 9 September to 6.30pm on Sunday 10 November - Closed from Cowgate Roundabout/Granstand Rd Interchange to Great North Road (B1318 Interchange).
A167 Central Motorway, from 8.45am -5pm on Sunday 10 November - Closed from Great North Road Interchange (B1318) to Park Lane (A184).
A184 from 9am-5pm Sunday 10 September -Closed from Park Lane/Felling Bypass to Whitemare Pool Interchange.
A194(M) from 9.45am-4pm on Sunday 10 September - Closed from Whitemare Pool Interchange/Leam Lane to John Reid Rd Roundabout (A1300).
John Reid Road (A1300) from 9.45am to 4pm on Sunday 10 September - Closed from John Reid Rd (A1300) to Prince Edward Rd (A1300) to Redwell Lane/Coast Rd (A183) roundabout.
Coast Road(A183) from 8am-5.30pm on Sunday 10 September -Closed from Redwell Lane to Mowbray Rd.
Bents Park Road from 2.45am-5.30pm on Sunday 10 September - Closed from Sea Way to Mowbray Rd.
Coast Road (A183) from 2pm-5.30pm on Sunday 10 September - Closed from Marsden Rock to Redwell Lane (Northbound only).
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