We are now so close to the Great North Run kicking off on Sunday those who are running may be starting to feel the nerves. But whilst everyone prepares four time Olympic champion, six time world champion and six time winner of the Great North Run Sir Mo Farah will be running his last competitive race on Sunday. So we spoke to him ahead of the race.
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00:00 Yeah, it's mixed emotional. I'm looking forward to the race, that's one part, and I'm also
00:08 looking forward to retiring and not being an elite athlete anymore. Everything you achieve.
00:19 But I think also it's going to be mixed emotion because all I've known is running and making
00:25 this as my last race and you come back year after year and that won't be happening. This
00:30 is the last time.
00:32 With the Great North Run said to be Sir Mo Farah's final run, across the North East recently
00:36 he has been pretty busy. With his voice being used for the announcement on the Metro, to
00:42 the Metro sign at Heworth being changed to Mo's signature move, and even the pub along
00:46 the finish line has his silhouette on the sign.
00:50 But before all that, Mo Farah left his mark in the North East after he placed his feet
00:54 in a concrete and signed his name in the South Shales Metro station.
00:59 This year the run is back to normal and after the Queen's death last year a lot had to be
01:03 changed but Sir Brendan Foster still gets excited by the Great North Run all of these
01:08 years later.
01:09 Well it's quite easy to get excited once a year isn't it when you get to my age, but
01:12 yeah it is, it's the event's gone bigger and better and stronger and more powerful and
01:19 this year we've got a fantastic story with the individual charity stories that you've
01:23 been talking about but also the great Mo Farah running his last ever race which will
01:27 be great and sad and emotional and happy and exciting and wonderful so yeah we've got
01:35 all of that and we're very lucky.
01:36 It's the biggest ever Great North Run, it's back to normal starting in Newcastle and finishing
01:41 in South Shales with no interruptions this year so fingers crossed we'll have a great
01:46 day on Sunday.
01:47 We provide a stage and then the public get on the stage to tell their stories, to sing
01:53 and dance, to laugh, to dress up, to smile, to raise money for charity, to bring economic
01:59 impact into the region, to celebrate the South Shales and Newcastle so we build the stage
02:05 and we try and build the stage better and better all the time.
02:08 We make it bigger and we hope to make it better and then it's over to the public and they
02:13 never let you down.
02:15 For Mo Farah it is a big moment to decide to finish his competitive racing career at
02:19 the Great North Run this year but why has Sir Mo chosen this race?
02:24 Great North Run has been so good to me over the years, Brendan and the team, I've always
02:31 made this my last race in the season whether you know coming off the Olympics or coming
02:35 off the World Champs and it's only by right being able to give back to others and the
02:40 community itself too.
02:42 I've always enjoyed the Great North Run and I just love the support and this is it.
02:49 Of course after travelling across the North East, getting involved in a lot of things,
02:54 we had to ask Mo Farah that all important question.
02:57 So I want you to tell us your favourite Geordie phrase.
03:00 No man, why aye man, tune tune.