Three marathons in eight days have recently taken place in the North East when just a few years ago there was not one on the fixture list.
Add to those new events, the Kielder Marathon on Sunday, October 2, and that is four races over the classic distance in October. Close to 250,000 people applied for places in the Virgin Money London Marathon to show that the sport is in good health.
The North East events are attracting a growing number of participants to endorse Sport England’s Active People survey that states that athletics, including jogging, has recorded the biggest rise in participation of any sport in England in recent years.
The number of weekly runners in England rose by 63,000 to 2.1 million last year.