The Greatest Show on Earth

By Helen Hall

On Thursday the 4^th of September I took part in what can only be described as the greatest show on earth, which took place on the NewcastleGateshead quayside. 

Why I took part in this once in a life time opportunity was back in march I lost my mum and for as long as I can remember my mum loved watching the Great North Run. She loved seeing who she could recognise off the TV and the different costumes that people would wear so I did this in her memory.

I nearly gave up early on after attending the meet and greet at Gateshead stadium although I did get a bit star struck when I realised that Brendan Foster was sitting right in front of me but it was due to the camaraderie of the volunteer performers and the help of Nathan Curry and the dance captains. 

My dance captain was Martin and stage management I would not have taken part in the performance itself. 

On the day, I remember rehearsing in the afternoon on the Millennium Bridge, I was a lantern and a tree and I remember Sting and Jimmy Nail walking past us. I just looked behind, saw them and said “Sting and Jimmy Nail have just walked past us, yay”. It was just such an amazing day with the fireworks and Mark Knopfler. I was also really excited that one of the runners was Paula Radcliff because my dad absolutely loves her.

For me it was just an amazing experience to take part in I am so grateful that I persevered and did not give up as I was going to at the first rehearsal because I just had a wonderful time and I just would like to thank everybody. I do want to thank a volunteer couple who helped me throughout the rehearsals and throughout the performance itself and my dance captain martin for they helped me so much and the comaraderie I’m so grateful to them. I really enjoyed the day. I really enjoyed the rehearsals. I got a certificate and a t-shirt. It was just such fun and I’m so glad I did it and mum, it was for you.