Efrem Gidey took a very credible 5th place in this morning’s Great North Run (Newcastle to South Shields) in a time of 64.02 in what was his half marathon debut. Efrem went toe to toe with some of the best distance runners in the world. The opening miles were very fast indeed with Efrem in the lead group hitting the 5 mile marker in 23.11 and 10k in 28.55. An injection of pace saw the pack of 5 split open as 2022 World Marathon Champion Tamirat Tola (ETH) took control, with Mo Farah, running his final race before retirement, in 4th and Efrem sticking on his shoulder. With 2 miles to go Farah dropped Efrem, the heat and early pace taking its toil on the entire field. Tola crossed the line in South Shields in 59:55, an incredible effort in the conditionals as Efrem held 5th (64.02), almost half a minute clear of Andy Bouchard (GBR).
Also racing was Stephen Scullion 32nd in 70.10 and a fine run also by Liam Roarty a PB of 76.22.
