Seeing Stars At Great North 10K

21 JUL2010

Commonwealth marathon bronze medallist Liz Yelling remained upbeat about returning to the international stage although beaten into second place by Sue Partridge at the Bupa Great North 10K in Sunderland on Sunday.

Yelling, in only her third competition since the birth of daughter Ruby last summer, was no match for her Scottish rival who used the meeting as a preparation for the European Championships marathon in Barcelona at the end of the month. Partridge, in the mixed race, was a runway winner by 42 seconds ahead of Yelling in 33 minutes 46 seconds with Kate Goodhead third in 35min 18sec. Winning the mens race was Edwin Kipkorir in a time of 28:44.

The race had a record number of participants this year, in its second year as one of the north east's biggest running events. The route started on the Wearmouth Bridge and took runners to Sunderland AFC's Stadium of Light. The Bupa Great North 10K will be followed in September by the 30th running of the Bupa Great North Run, which is a popular half marathon taking runners from Newcastle to Gateshead, with over 50,000 runners each year.