AJ Bell Great North Run Partners with Local Artist to Reveal 2025 Medal

The AJ Bell Great North Run 2025 medal has been revealed in collaboration with Newcastle based artist Howard Lee, giving those participating a glimpse of the spoils they will be rewarded with when they cross the finish line on the 7th September.

For 44 years, ordinary people doing extraordinary things has been the bedrock of the Great North Run, so it was only fitting to work with ‘art of illusion’ artist Howard. Previously an art teacher, Howard first posted his work online in 2015 to show his students receiving an almost instantaneous response on Instagram. Known for his ‘Real vs Fake’ style, his videos soon featured on TV making his work world famous.

This year’s medal design incorporates the iconic Tyne Bridge alongside words from We are the Great North Run – a poem created by George Caulkin, North East Sports Correspondent for The Athletic/New York Times and a regular Great North Run participant, which has been adopted at the theme for the 2025 event.

Describing the artistic process, Howard said: “Because my work is viewed in video form, there are a lot of ways to experiment with creating illusions or playing around with perception. Realism is already a type of artistic illusion but the video creates a certain way of seeing it, adding another level for the audience.”

“The starting point for this type of artwork is almost always to find a range of art materials that can be blended to accurately match the colours in the real piece. The depiction of the Tyne Bridge and surrounding poetry took quite a lot of colour mixing!”

“I feel very privileged to have been involved in the process of revealing this year’s medal, it really is quite a striking design!”

An adopted Geordie, Howard moved to Newcastle almost 20 years after his wife secured a job in the North East.

“We drove up here not knowing what to expect and we never left because this region has everything you would want! It has everything really – the people, the atmosphere, the culture, landscape, art, architecture, food… I feel very lucky to have found myself here!

60,000 runners will take on the 13.1 mile course from city to sea, spurred on by over 200,000 spectators lining the streets in support, waving, cheering, and willing them on as the region comes together. Every one of them a story. But together, we are the Great North Run.

Find out more about this year’s Great North Run and sign up to be the first to hear about the 2026 ballot here.