SIR Mo Farah CBE won The Great North Run for the sixth time this weekend as thousands of supporters lined the streets of Newcastle.

The 36-year-old Olympic champion completed the 13.1 mile course in 59 minutes and seven seconds, a new personal best.

More than 57,000 runners registered to take part in the half marathon this year, wchi took place yesterday. A further 8,500 young runners signed up to the Junior and Mini Great North Run, which was held on Saturday.

Participants often raise money for charity through sponsorship and many take part wearing fancy dress.

Among the costumes this year were Sesame Street’s Big Bird, The Incredibles, Captain America, a unicorn and a banana.

The 39th Great North Run stretches from Newcastle city centre, over the Tyne bridge and out towards South Shields.

It began as a fun run in 1981 with approximately 12,000 runners. Supporters enjoyed activities, food stalls and live music throughout the day at an open-air charity village.

One said: “We’ve had a brilliant day watching all of the runners and we couldn’t have asked for better weather really. This is our first time here and the atmosphere has been fantastic. We will definitely come again.”

Kenyan marathon runner Brigid Kosgei beat the women’s half marathon world record with a time of 1:04:28.

Paralympics champion David Weir won the elite men’s wheelchair race, beating Canadian Brent Lakatos to the finishing line and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Jade Jones-Hall took first in the women’s wheelchair race.