The two kilomete tunnel tha truns under the River Tyne is the venue for the unique race which is a private initiative that holds great statue with the world’s elite chair racers due to the exciting nature of the course.

The "cult" race begins with a terrifying one kilometre steep drop which sees the athletes in their high-tech; state of the art Paralympic racing chairs reach frighteningly fast speeds approaching 60 miles per hour.

As they reach the centre of the tunnel, the road flattens out before curving sharply upwards meaning that the athletes face a grueling one kilometresvertical climb to reach the finish.

The athletes will arrive at the South side of the tunnel at around 7.30pm in order to warm up before the tunnel on the A19 road is closed to traffic just before the 9pm start.

A big screen in Newcastle will show all of the action from inside the tunnel while the victory ceremony will take place at 10.30pm.

The athletes will not return until their hotel until around midnight with many of the competitors set to stay in the North East for the Great North Run which takes place just two days after the event.

Paralympic stars including Weir, wheelchair marathon world record holder Ernst van Dyk of South Africa and 2010 wheelchair London Marathon winner Josh Cassidy of Canada have all won the men’s race in the past while Woods and five-time Paralympic medallist Diane Roy of Canada have claimed victory in the women’s event in previous years.



Dave Burdus, the race director, told insideworldparasport: "We are really excited about the event this year which has received more media coverage and cooperate funding than ever before.

"We have got a fantastic line-up featuring 30 of the world’s elite wheelchair athletes and it’s great to have likes of David Weir, Ernst van Dyk and Josh Cassidy lining up in the men’s race.

"In the women’s race, we’ve obviously got Shelly Woods looking to defend her title and we’re really pleased to have young Jade Jones [the 14-year-old wheelchair racer and junior 1500 metre world-record holder] competing too.

"She is coached by Ian Thompson and Tanni Grey-Thompson and she will be one of the stars of the future so it is great to have racing here.

"We expect this race to be the best one yet and hopefully we’ll see some of the athletes get over 60 mph too which will be good.

"There an awful amount of work that has gone into organising this event and it can be difficult because it is not an official part of the racing calendar but the one thing for certain is that this is not for the faint hearted."

Burdus added that the race in 2012 will be an even more star-studded event because it will be scheduled for the end of the London 2012 Paralympics to enable the world’s top names to compete.

He said: "It can often be difficult to gather all of the top wheelchair racers together so in 2012, we will hold the race shortly after the Paralympic Games so all of the best Paralympians in the world will be able to attend as they will already be in the country.

"It really is a very unique event and as the world’s fastest wheelchair race, I’m sure none of the top racers will want to miss it."

To see highlights of the 2009 race click here.  

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