Sara Davies was forced to train for the Great North Run at the crack of dawn, as the TV star juggled her preparations for the half marathon with filming the new series of Dragons Den.
Crafting entrepreneur and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Sara took to the start line in Newcastle, along with an estimated 60,000 on Sunday, 21 years after she first completed the world famous race as a teenager.
Running for Your NHS charity, Sara was one of the celebs interviewed by BBC presenter Gabby Logan, before Magpies boss Eddie Howe got this year’s event underway. And, it was during her chat with Gabby that Sara revealed that, trying to get Great North Run training while filming one of the BBC’s biggest shows, meant some very early starts for her.
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County Durham star Sara explained that her running coach had her up at 5.30am to get the miles in, continuing: “I think that got me into routine and then my coach did me a nice little plan, which saw me just increase the distances, I even did a whole half marathon in training a few weeks ago.”
Sara added: “I feel I’ve got the distance in my legs, I know what I’m doing, so I’m just hoping for the best today.”
As the BBC’s coverage continued throughout the morning and into the afternoon, Sara was interviewed en route to South Shields, telling roving reporter Amy Fuller, who was also running the race, just how much doing the Great North Run on home turf meant to her, before revealing she was looking forward to a huge roast dinner and a glass of champagne after finishing.