Newcastle revealed as THE running hotspot in the UK
A new report shows 1 in 40 people across the city now run
A new report has revealed Newcastle as THE running hotspot in the UK.
The Great Run Company, the UK’s biggest mass participation event organiser and owners of the iconic Great North Run, has unveiled a heatmap of their runners.
Utilising 2024 participant postcode data from over 180,000 runners across their portfolio of annual running events, the report revealed nearly 21,000 Geordies took part in one of their mass events this year, equating to 1 in 40 Newcastle residents lacing up.
The wider North East region accounted for 1 in 5 (19%) ‘great’ runners this year with NE3 (Gosforth) and NE34 (South Shields) as the two most likely postcodes for Geordie runners to call home.
Regionally the North West and Scotland both followed the North East as running hubs (with 17% each of runners), with 1 in 10 runners coming from either the South West and South Central regions.
The top 10 running towns and cities identified by The Great Run Company were:
- Newcastle Upon Tyne
- Glasgow
- Bristol
- Manchester
- Birmingham
- Portsmouth
- Stockport
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Cleveland
Founder and President of the Great North Run Sir Brendan Foster said:
“It’s no surprise that the home of the world’s greatest half marathon, the Great North Run, is now a city of seasoned runners. The event is ingrained in the history of the city and has no doubt influenced many geordies to lace up and get running.
However more importantly our report shows that more and more people are finding a love of running and reaping the many benefits that come from participating. People of all ages, all postcodes across the UK and even overseas are running our events. We can’t wait to welcome even more ‘great’ runners in 2025!”
One person who found her love for running in 2024 is 23 year old Becky Dodds from Cramlington, Northumberland. Becky completed the 2024 Great North Run in memory of her Grandma, having never ran before. Becky set up her own run crew to ensure she completed the event.
She said: “I decided i didn’t want to run by myself. I looked at other run clubs, and they were all set pace or set run times, which I definitely couldn’t keep up with. Because of this, I decided to create my own run club ‘The Coffee Run’, a community that has grown massively over the last 12 months.
“The Coffee Run is my main source of training, as running in a group makes it so much easier! They push me every week, t inspires me every single day! Meeting new people, from all fitness levels, continuously improving themselves and pushing each other to be 1% better everyday."
The ballot for 2025's Great North Run opens in January.