David Beadle is preparing to return to the Great North Run, and this time the race means far more than a finish time. After losing his two children, Quinn and Dyllon, he says he had "never wanted to run again" — but now he is set to line up on Sunday, 13 September in support of Quinn's Retreat.
Beadle, 45, had once been a keen runner and had completed the annual 13.1-mile event eight times before his life changed. Quinn, who was 17, died in 2018, and 10 months later Dyllon, who was 21, also took his own life. The loss left Beadle unable to view running in the same way, and he said: "When you've lost your two beautiful children, chasing a finish time doesn't seem to matter anymore."
Why the Great North Run feels different now
The Great North Run is built around thousands of runners covering 21km through Gateshead and South Tyneside, but for Beadle the return is about something more personal. He says the event now offers him "just that chance to breathe, to relax and reflect."
That shift matters because he is not approaching it like the younger runner he once was. Beadle said: "My body is 10 years older and I'm not that fit 30-year-old that I used to be, so there'll be no PBs [personal best] getting set... but I'll be getting round, that's for sure."
There is honesty in that. This is not a story about chasing a time or making a sporting comeback in the usual sense. It is about finding a way back into something he loved, after grief took it away.
Quinn's Retreat and the meaning behind the run
Beadle will be raising money for Quinn's Retreat, which was founded in 2020 and was inspired by Dyllon after Quinn's death. The charity was created to help families in similar situations, and also those struggling with mental health, with the aim of creating a permanent retreat on the North East coast.
That gives Beadle's return another layer of meaning. Watching Quinn's Retreat GNR runners in recent years gave him "itchy feet" to return, and now he is doing so with a clear purpose.
He said he expects the morning to be emotional, but added that the memory of Dylan and Quinn will carry him through. For a runner who once treated the Great North Run as a sporting challenge, this year's event is something else entirely: a way to keep going, and to help other families who know similar pain.
The race has always drawn attention for its scale, and it will do so again as 40 runners take part in this year's fundraising effort. But Beadle's story gives the Great North Run its most powerful human edge: a reminder that, for some, crossing the line is about resilience as much as athletics.
