Awards will thank Great North Runners efforts

Mar 13 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

ONCE again, The Journal is giving you – Journal readers – the opportunity to honour the unsung heroes of the BUPA Great North Run.

In association with race organisers Nova International, we are inviting you to enter a contest that could win you or your nominee the exclusive chance to attend the star-studded gala event The BUPA Great North Run Hall of Fame Charity Dinner, on April 7, this year.

The 13.1 mile challenge, which this year takes place on October 5, has now reached the incredible milestone of welcoming it’s millionth ever participant.

Leanne Symonds, 32, a first-time entrant, was presented with a celebration bouquet of flowers by race founder Brendan Foster last month after learning she would take on the magic number during the route between Newcastle and South Shields.

And in further celebration of the landmark, the theme for this year’s competition is to be ‘One in a Million’.

So if you know someone who you feel has helped the regional event of the year grow into the world’s biggest half-marathon, or you have an inspirational story to tell about someone you feel could be the ‘Great North One in a Million’, we want to hear from you.

Those nominated are in with a chance of winning the second annual ‘The Journal Your Great North Run Award’, presented at the dinner next month by Journal editor Brian Aitken.

The three nominees who have generated the best testimonials as to why they should be named One in a Million, whether written by themselves or someone else, will be invited to attend the charity dinner at Gateshead’s Hilton Hotel.

You may be someone who has overcome great adversity to take part in the annual road race, or you may know someone who has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity by taking part many times.

You may be one of the few people that has taken part in every one of the 26 previous BUPA Great North Runs since the event began in 1981, or you may dress up as a particular character in order to raise awareness of a given cause.

Whatever your tale might be, your entry can be in the form of a short story, a poem, a song or simply a statement, and it must not exceed 250 words.

If you win a seat on The Journal’s table for the black-tie dinner, presented by BBC TV’s Sue Barker, you will be one of the chosen few to see six new people inducted into the Great North Run Hall of Fame.

Former Olympic rower and charity stalwart James Cracknell, who last year finished the BUPA Great North Run as one of the top 200 runners, will also be guest speaker at the gala evening.

A Great North Run spokesman said inductees to the Hall of Fame would be chosen from scores of nominations and would include volunteers, administrators, media colleagues, fundraisers, celebrity supporters and public agencies, as well as elite athletes.

The spokesman said: “Every year, new members are to be selected by a panel comprising a group of leading people associated with the run, and part of the ambitious plans for this initiative include creating a permanent home for the Great North Run Hall of Fame and Museum in the not too distant future.”

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Editor of 1981 is one of the first into Hall

LAST year, the Bupa Great North Run Hall of Fame Charity Dinner welcomed its first inductees into the initiative.

The star-studded affair, presented by former tennis ace and BBC TV personality Sue Barker, was held at Gateshead’s Hilton Hotel last April 4.

Among the names inducted as the first ever to be honoured in recognition for their outstanding contribution to the success of the world’s biggest half- marathon, was former The Journal editor Phil Crawley, who created the front page in 1981 showing thousands of runners making their way across the Tyne Bridge.

Guest speaker at the gala dinner was former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s ex- spokesman Alistair Campbell, and the other inductees included Britain’s most successful Paralympic athlete Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, from Redcar, elite runner and two-time winner of the race Rosa Maria Correia dos Santas Mota, who once donated her prize money to a local school, and Mike McLeod, the 10,000m Olympic bronze medallist, who won the first two Great North Runs in 1981 and 1982 respectively.

Music for the event was provided by Dire Straits’s Alan Clark and the night was attended by North East sporting stars such as Jonathan Edwards and Steve Cram.

All the proceeds from the evening were also donated to charity, with £1,000 going to The Journal’s Josie Grove Appeal.

Among the many stars on the night were the three finalists from The Journal’s short story competition, which has been adapted this year to appeal to those who may not feel that creative writing is their forte.

Ian Milburn, 70, of The Westlands, Sunderland, Noreen Rees, of Queens Road, Whitley Bay and Kate Heeley, of Anselm Crescent, North Shields, were all guests of The Journal as they watched the ceremony.

Grandfather-of-three Mr Milburn, a retired science teacher, finally walked away with the trophy, which was presented to him by The Journal editor Brian Aitken, having beat off stiff competition from around 300 other entrants.

His story, The Runner, was inspired by his own experiences of taking part in the Bupa Great North Run on more than a dozen occasions.

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One in a Million entries deadline

ENTRIES to The Journal Your Great North Run Award competition, which is themed One in a Million, must arrive at The Journal offices by noon on Tuesday, April 1.

Testimonials, which must not exceed 250 words, can be about yourself, or someone you feel deserves a place at the Bupa Great North Run Hall of Fame Charity Dinner which will be held at Gateshead’s Hilton Hotel on April 7.

They can be in any form, whether a song, poem, short story or simply a sentence, and can be posted, emailed or entered online on to our new Great North Run page.

Send your entry by post to Jule Wilson, Reporter, The Journal, ncjMedia Ltd, Groat Market, Newcastle NE1 1ED, or email Jule directly with your entry at jule.wilson@ncjmedia.co.uk

You can also enter on The Journal’s website at www.journallive.co.uk/run