Great North Run won't get any bigger
THE Great North Run will not expand to accommodate more entries, despite two people applying for every place this year, organisers have said.
More than 100,000 people tried to gain a place for the half-marathon, but only 54,000 will be able to take part.
Event organisers Nova International believe expansive TV and radio coverage, sunny weather last year and this being the 30th anniversary race led to record demand for places.
But communications director David Hart said there are no plans to increase the size of the event to allow more people to take part in future.
"We are concentrating on making the event better rather than bigger," he said.
Concerns about dealing with such a large number of runners safely are always discussed after each event, and in recent years the managers felt 54,000 was the right limit, he said.
The anniversary run has been backed by a promotional campaign in a national newspaper, and Radio 5 Live and BBC television dedicate hours of broadcast time to the event.
This year's half-marathon from Newcastle to South Shields is on Sunday, September 19.
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
