Great North Run 2014

19 watchers

RunningRonnie Sep 2014 8:36am, 10 Sep 2014 1,318 posts	0 RunningRonnie I can't quite believe how slick everything is run with the event though. Given the amount of people, I expected it to be a nightmare with hours of queuing for things like toilets and baggage buses, more congestion than there was, hours to get out of the finishing area, etc. Although, did anyone use the Nirvana Europe transfer buses? What a waste of £15 that was! Buses were miles away, could not find them for ages then the bus trip back took over 90 minutes as the driver did not have a clue where he was going.
DeeGee Sep 2014 8:39am, 10 Sep 2014 16,033 posts	0 DeeGee I took a public bus from Bents Park Road. Didn't take as long, but cost £3.50 and was visible from the finish line. I resent paying Nirvana anything for GNR weekend. Unfortunately it's becoming harder to find accommodation without them.
Oysterboy Sep 2014 9:09am, 10 Sep 2014 9,911 posts	0 Oysterboy It was my first experience of this race and I did really enjoy it. I was happy with my time considering the congestion and it was hotter and hillier than I expected. I did get a bit frustrated with the amount of walkers just sort of meandering around in the way rather than being at the sides. I also found the water stations annoying. There seemed to be hundreds of them and everyone slowed to almost walking pace before throwing their bottles under your feet. I never want water and wish there was a bypass lane for people who want to avoid it.
Neilio Sep 2014 9:34am, 10 Sep 2014 1,004 posts	0 Neilio My first GNR too, with a half PB to show for it. Biggest annoyance is folks that were walking from before the Tyne Bridge! What is the point in that? Otherwise, well organised and enjoyable.
pink fairy Sep 2014 9:46am, 10 Sep 2014 236 posts	0 pink fairy I thought there needed to be more toilets. I also found the metro to be quite a horrific experience first thing and my partner/ friend said it was similarly awful to the end. I'd looked at the timetable before and it had said they'd be every 5 minutes, but I waited 11 mins for the first (that was full). We got a public bus back after, and that was good but there were no details anywhere of the route it took- we'd been told it was for Heworth but not that it went via Haymarket so we got slightly concerned when we went through the tunnel! At that point we googled it, but there were no details of the route anywhere on the internet.
Kimbles Sep 2014 5:23pm, 10 Sep 2014 4,490 posts	0 Kimbles Just seen an update on Tracy Crammond's Just Giving page (the Millionth finisher). She is indeed off to New Zealand to do the Round The Bays run as mentioned by Lord Coe and Brendan Foster. Well done Tracy and well done Brendan Foster and Great Run for keeping to their word.
Kimbles Sep 2014 5:23pm, 10 Sep 2014 4,491 posts	0 Kimbles Just seen an update on Tracy Crammond's Just Giving page (the Millionth finisher). She is indeed off to New Zealand to do the Round The Bays run as mentioned by Lord Coe and Brendan Foster. Well done Tracy and well done Brendan Foster and Great Run for keeping to their word.
Squares Sep 2014 6:18pm, 10 Sep 2014 1,929 posts	0 Squares The metro is horrific, I always use the bus though it was a long wait at 4pm when I left our charity tent.