Three Weeks To Go: What Great North Runners Should Do Now
With less than three weeks until the AJ Bell Great North Run, the focus now shifts from building fitness to arriving healthy, prepared and ready to race...
This relates to: Great North Run
The AJ Bell Great North Run is now less than three weeks away, with 63,000 runners preparing to make the famous journey from Newcastle to South Shields on Sunday 13 September 2026.
For most runners, the biggest gains have already been made. Long runs and weeks of consistent training have built the fitness required for 13.1 miles, so the priority now is to protect that work rather than suddenly trying to add more.
There is still time for useful training, but this is not the moment to dramatically increase mileage or introduce unfamiliar sessions. Keeping running consistent while allowing enough recovery should leave legs fresher as race day approaches.
The Great North Run course also rewards sensible preparation. After the excitement of leaving Newcastle and crossing the Tyne Bridge, runners face a route containing both climbing and descending. The organisers identify miles eight to 12 as the section many participants find toughest, before the course eventually drops towards the coast and the final seafront mile at South Shields.
That makes controlled pacing particularly important. Getting carried away by the crowds during the opening miles can make the later climbs considerably harder.
Practical preparation matters too. Race numbers, which contain the timing chip, are being sent to participants from around four weeks before the event. Runners should read their event information carefully and check their allocated wave, travel arrangements and route to the start well before race morning.
Hydration and nutrition should also be familiar by now. The final weeks are for reinforcing routines that have worked during training rather than experimenting with something new.
Above all, reaching the start line healthy should now take priority over squeezing in one more demanding session.
The hard work has largely been done. The next three weeks are about making sure it is still in the legs when Newcastle, the Tyne Bridge and 13.1 miles to South Shields finally arrive.
Find out more via the runABC race hub.
Image courtesy Great Run Company.
