It had been a while since my last half-marathon, the Great Limerick Run in 2022, so I set a goal this year of signing up for a ‘big’ half and actually training properly. This was largely inspired by how incredibly painful I found the last bit of the race in Limerick, although it remains my PB for the distance. As I’d never been to Newcastle, but had heard that the Great North Run was well worth doing, I duly put my name in the ballot and ended up getting in – so, I was committed to some proper structured training.
I had a ‘good’ Frank Duffy 10 Miler here in the Phoenix Park a few weeks ago, both in terms of time and not feeling horrendous after (I found it very rough going in 2002), so I flew to Newcastle very much looking forward to the big run. I was also keen to explore some museums and, of course, pubs, and got some excellent recommendations from both BlueSky and Threads. Beer Twitter may be dead, but it has been reborn in multiple places, so while it takes a bit more doing than it did before to find everyone, we’re getting there again.
I was immediately impressed by Newcastle’s airport, which we’ll return to later, and by their TRAM NETWORK. It was simple and affordable to get into town from said airport via the Metro, and hopefully, some day, we can have something similar here in Dublin, like essentially every other sizable city with an airport…but I digress. After a post-arrival brunch, I made my way to the much-recommended Free Trade Inn for a few cask halves, and was thoroughly impressed by the spot. There were lovely people (hello, Tom!), a great variety of cask and keg local beer choices and a relaxed atmosphere; just my kind of pub. I then stopped in at nearby Full Circle Brewing, in what might best be described as the light-industrial-cool-brewery part of town, and had another warm welcome and some very pleasant tasters.
After visiting the Lit & Phil (a recommendation from Fabulous Folklore with Icy Sedgwick, though let’s be real, I am always visiting libraries) and doing some book shopping – really, the only thing I need to mark Newcastle down for is the small number of bookshops, though the selections at the Waterstones and Blackwells were both excellent – and dinner, I did another short pub crawl, stopping in at The Mean-eyed Cat and The Town Mouse. Once again, both spots had an interesting selection of cask and keg, but given my cask nerdery (and running plans), I stayed with the lower-key cask halves; well, I did have one pint at the end of the evening, which for me was at around 6 pm, as I was back in my hotel watching Murder, She Wrote by 6.30 pm. ROCK AND ROLL!
I kicked off my Saturday with a Parkrun at Leazes Park, where you could just make out St James’s Park in the fog, and then spent the rest of the day collecting my race number (they don’t post them if you live outside the UK), having tea, then wandering around museums, breweries and pubs. The Great North Museum: Hancock was well worth a visit, especially since I didn’t have time to head out to some of the bigger Roman sites in the area, and I stopped in at Wylam’s impressive Palace of Arts location for a swift half, too. I then prioritized pizza and getting to Donzoko Brewing’s new taproom, and am glad I did so. It’s a fantastic space, and the lagers were uniformly excellent. I managed to get my first, and, so far, only festbier of the year, and thoroughly enjoyed everything. After a bit more sightseeing and dinner (another, not-as-good pizza and the only bad cask beer I ended up abandoning, at a crowded pub that shall remain nameless), I had a last half of cask bitter, this time from Brew York, at Beer Street, a bottle shop and micropub housed in a railway arch. While pizza and The Right Amount of Beer the night before a race always serves me well, it was important to be mindful of the ‘right amount,’ and so, it was once again an early night.
Race day arrived, and while the weather had been really quite good for the north of England in September up until this point, the rain only held off until just before my wave was underway. By the time we reached the Tyne Bridge, the rain was heavy, as were my sodden shoes. But the support from what seemed to be the whole of Newcastle was outstanding; there was no point in the race, even though much of it is along rather featureless motorways, that lacked a cheering crowd, even in the heaviest downpours. By the time I got to the 19th or 20th kilometre, it had let up a bit, but it was still hard to see the sea by the time we reached it – I’m sure it was there!
Once I crossed the finish line in South Shields (still under 2 hours, despite the 60,000 strong field of runners and intensely wet, heavy going at times), it was a very straightforward exercise to get my medal, t-shirt and goody bag (with a very welcome foil blanket). Although there was a well-organised series of booths and activities after the finish line, I made a beeline to the buses back into Newcastle. Once again, this seemed well-planned and well-executed; I was back in my hotel room and finally able to stretch and warm up in a very long shower within the hour.
After a rest (and a lot of herbal tea from Bird & Blend), I devoured a burger from Meat:stack and went out (obviously, wearing my medal) for my celebratory pints. I started at The Wobbly Duck and once again found a great selection of cask and keg offerings, as well as wonderful staff and clientele – a properly great little pub I would absolutely visit again.
Finally, I flew home to Dublin on the Monday morning, and I have to sing the praises of the Newcastle airport – it is easily the nicest airport I have ever been to. I’ve already mentioned the ease of getting to and from the airport via the Metro, but security is a breeze (you get to leave everything in your bag), the staff are actually friendly and I had the best food I’ve ever had in an airport. Not only was it on par with brunches I’ve gone out for on purpose, but there was good tea and a nice selection of local beer (including Wylam and Full Circle), though I gave that a miss at that hour of the morning.
All told, I’m glad I’ve got a Great North Run in the books, and I’m happy to report there’s a very interesting beer scene in Newcastle; I think on a future visit I’d aim to include a side trip to Durham and to hit up more archaeological sites, but in any event, the universal friendliness and fantastic airport make a return visit tempting.
But I’m also open to hearing opinions on what half-marathon to aim for next year – bonus points for a flat course, great local bookshops, interesting beer and museums aplenty. Share your ideas!