SGS Success at the Great North Run


When there’s a fitness-focused event taking place, you can be sure that some of our colleagues will be involved. On Sunday 8th September it was the Great North Run, which saw three SGS team members slip on their trainers and pop up to the North East to complete the largest half marathon in the world, which begins in Newcastle and ends in South Shields.

Helen Padget-Smith, Sara Ellis and Ben Stathers all took part and made sure to fit in plenty of training beforehand. We asked them about their preparation regime and how the event went for them:

“I went to the gym twice a week in my lunch hour with Danni Monk, as well as taking long runs on a weekend, normally between six and eight miles,” says Helen. “The atmosphere on the day was amazing, with 57,0000 runners joining us. There were supporters encouraging us all along the route, plus they gave away water, jelly babies, ice lollies, energy gels and jellies to keep us energised and refreshed.

 “My finish time was 2 hours, 26 minutes and 38 seconds. I pulled my IT band on mile seven so had to hobble-run for the next 6.2 miles!”
Sara’s fitness regime prior to the event was also very impressive: “I run four or five times a week regularly and compete in lots of local races. I increased my weekly mileage for in advance and incorporated lots of speed work and hill training into my training schedule. I run for West Hull Ladies, who offer three club sessions a week, so most of my training is done with the club, plus long runs on a weekend either by myself or with a friend. I got up to fifteen miles for my longest session whilst training for the Great North Run.

“I ran the event in my club colours and had an enjoyable trip with some of my running friends – we did it there and back on the day, with a 44:5am start! My finish time was 1 hour, 48 minutes and 49 seconds.”

Meanwhile, Ben says that his preparation was going fine until mid-summer: “I somehow lost a bit of motivation. I managed to get back on course in August by putting in some longer runs. I hadn’t previously run over 10k, so this was a big achievement for me to get up to the magic ten-mile mark in training a couple of weeks before the event.

“I did pick up an injury in the week before the run, but with the help of some compression socks and pain relief I made it to the start line. From there the event went really well. I ran by myself and just tried to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy it – thankfully I did, managing to complete the course in 2 hours and 22 minutes, which has now set me a benchmark for future events and proved to myself that I can actually complete runs of this distance.”

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