Finishing a half marathon like the Great North Run is a big achievement. Run it, jog it, walk it, or a bit of everything, not much will match the feeling of crossing that line in South Shields.
Around 60,000 competitors will be aiming to complete the 13.1 mile course on Sunday September 11, which has been confirmed as going ahead after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8.
The Great North Run 2022 route is back to its usual course: it starts in Newcastle on the Central Motorway near the Town Moor in Newcastle, heads to Gateshead, onto the A184 and Felling Bypass and on to the finish line on the seafront at South Shields.
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What is a good time to run the Great North Run half marathon in?
In 2019, Brit Mo Farah completed the Great North Run in under an hour, clocking a time of 59:07. In the same year, Kenyan Brigid Kosgei broke the women's half-marathon world record, with a time of 01:04:28, although her record has since been broken, by Ababel Yeshaneh in 2020. Kosgei still holds the Great North Run's course record for women, while her compatriot Martin Mathathi holds the men's record, at 58.26.
But, of course, most running in the general entry or for charity will not be aiming to match Mr Farah or Ms Kosgei's speed from last time, although some entrants do clock very impressive times. In 2018, for example, the fastest time in the mass entry field was 01:11:09. The slowest was 05:20:29, and the average time was 02:26:37.
So, if you're looking for a time to aim for, the average of 02:26:37 from 2018 is a decent benchmark.
If you fancy going faster, RunningLevel.com says a "good" half marathon time for a man is 01:44:14, although that is for more advanced runners. For women, RunningLevel says a good time for advanced runners is 02:01:17.
For beginners and novices, times between 02:20:00 and 02:45:00 are a good goal, although it varies by age.
But, just to stress again, experiencing and finishing the run are the achievements, there is no shame in slowing down.
Go here for the latest Great North Run news, updates and information.
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