Former middle-distance runner is going for half-marathon wheelchair record with the help of ex-athletes such as Ryan McLeod and Matt Bond

Drew Graham, a promising British middle-distance runner whose career ended after a spinal cord injury, is teaming up with half a dozen long-time running friends to target a Guinness world record at the AJ Bell Great North Run on September 7.

Graham and the squad are aiming to run 75 minutes for the 13.1-mile event to get the record for “the fastest half marathon pushing a wheelchair by a team (male)”.

The runners will take it in turns during the race to push Graham’s wheelchair for one minute before having five minutes of less strenuous running to recover before their next effort.

The team includes former British half-marathon champion Ryan McLeod, former GB international marathoner Matt Bond, duathlete Alex Smith, ex-athletes Matt Nicholson and Nick Hooker – the latter being an AW cover star in 2014 – plus Graham’s brother, Jonathan, a former English Schools medallist before turning to the fells.

The team completed the Great North Run in just outside two hours in 2023 and then improved to 86 minutes in 2024. “The first time I did it, I had to be talked into it as I wasn’t taking much interest in the sport at the time and didn’t want to be just pushed around a course,” says Graham. “But then I really enjoyed it with my brother, Ryan and the other lads.”

McLeod has returned to serious training after health issues cut short his competitive athletics career in 2016 and he adds: “Seventy-five minutes is a great time for most, but we have to do it whilst pushing 100kg so really need to be in shape for it!”

Graham's role will be similar to a cox in a rowing event on race day and he is optimistic that the team can at least run around 80 minutes. Among other things, they have done previous races using a basic wheelchair, whereas this time they have an improved machine, while Graham adds: “Half the lads hadn’t run for about six years when we did two hours on our first effort!’

When they completed the course in 86 minutes, Graham says: “It was wet and the duct tape stopped working and my feet came off the chair and we had to stop a few times so we probably lost two or three minutes.”

Graham broke his C4 vertebrae after he dived into a reservoir in Denver just over a decade ago. His PBs included 1:49.14 and 3:40.95 for 800m and 1500m representing Gosforth Harriers before studying in the United States. But he has since turned his attentions to creating “ Gym Possible”, which aims to give wheelchair users specifically designed gym facilities in the North East of England.

Graham adds: “Unless something massively goes wrong, we should at least break 80 minutes. For closer to 75 minutes, things will need to go perfectly but the guys have been training hard and are improving, so let’s see.

“The Great North Run is quite hilly as well. We could have chosen a flatter course but we wanted to do it up here because it’s so meaningful to us."

Indeed, McLeod's father, Mike, won the first two Great North Run men's races in 1981-82.

“It’s uncharted territory for us but there’s been a lot of camaraderie so far," adds Graham.

See more at Gym Possible here.