GREAT North Run memorabilia, including kit worn by the brilliant Haile Gebreselassie, has been donated to Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle.

The Ethiopian athlete was a hugely popular winner of the Bupa Great North Run last year.

His kit, in the green and red national colours, featured in the exhibition In The Long Run which was part of last year’s Great North Run Culture programme and seen by 80,000 people at the museum.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, which runs Great North Museum: Hancock, has also been entrusted with other artefacts including the finishing tapes from the first run in 1981 and last year’s event, and also the Great North Run train sign dating from the 1990s when elite athletes were brought from London to Newcastle by rail.

Brendan Foster, run founder and chairman, said: “In the Long Run was a really exciting exhibition by Great North Run Culture which gave people the chance to delve right into the event and find out more about its fascinating history and the thousands of people who’ve made it a success.”

Iain Watson, director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the Bupa Great North Run for entrusting us with these items of such international importance.”

In The Long Run will be shown again this year from June 18 to October 1 at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery.