Prime Minister Andy Burnham has become the first serving Prime Minister to take on the world's biggest half-marathon, as 63,000 runners set off from the starting line in Newcastle city centre.
The Great North Run is back today, with runners tackling the 13.1-mile route from the city centre to South Shields. Other familiar faces among the runners include Joe Wicks, Chris Kamara, Ben Shephard, Joe McElderry, Helen Skelton and Peter Reid.
A familiar course for the PM
Burnham has previously run the famous half-marathon course several times while serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester. He will be running for the homelessness and housing charity Changing Lives.
This year's Great North Run marks its 45th anniversary. The PM said: “I'm running the Great North Run for Changing Lives because I've seen the difference they make with my own eyes.
“A few weeks back I visited Alex's Place in Newcastle to launch our drive to offer everyone a route off the streets by Christmas. I sat down with residents over a cup of tea and heard what it actually takes to rebuild a life once you've lost everything - not just a roof, but people who stick with you while you find your feet again. That's what Changing Lives does.”
Race details and weather
The streets are expected to be lined by thousands, and there are also displays from the Red Arrows expected. There is a staggered start to this year's race: 10:20am Elite Wheelchair athletes start; 10:25am Elite Women start; 10:27am Visually impaired (VI) participants start; 10:35am Warm Up; 10:50am Elite Men and masses start.
According to the Met Office, the weather should be fine for runners. It says: "A fine day, with early cloud in places breaking up to leave some warm sunny spells. Temperatures will be near average with mainly light winds. Maximum temperature 20 °C."
A free Great Run app can be used to follow any particular runner from the race start. It also offers a predicted finish time to help those aiming to meet a runner at the finish line. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
