"Whatever you do, don't stop." In the six months of training and straining before last year's Great North Run, this was the key advice that carried me over the finish line. As mind, body and soul pleaded for a rest, this mantra enabled me to conquer those long last few miles of the world's largest half-marathon.
Joy, relief and pride swept over me as the torment finished. Then came the reality check. Four men aged between 28 and 52 had collapsed and died in the last miles of the race. Could it have been me? Were they telling themselves "Don't stop" before it was too late?
On Sunday, another male runner, this one 29, died on the run, the 13th fatality in 26 years of the race. The London Marathon, twice the distance, has been running for the same time and only eight on-course deaths have been recorded. Around 700,000 runners have completed the Great North Run; 650,000 the London Marathon. Clearly something is not right.
Organisers of the Great North Run reacted to last year's deaths by drawing up new guidelines urging runners to "Respect the Challenge", with advice on how, when and why to prepare. David Hart, the communications director of Nova International, organisers of the run, explained yesterday that "when undertaking physical exercise, there is always a small risk of sudden cardiac death".
Yet why is this risk higher in the Great North Run than the Marathon? The answer may lie in the mentality of the participants. Within the first half-mile of last year's race I saw "runners" already walking, while others of the varied shapes and sizes looked in need of a rest. It is far easier to be blase about completing an event of 13 miles - maybe a bet, a dare or a spur-of-the-moment decision - than one of 26 miles. Dr Dan Tunstall Pedoe, medical director of the London Marathon, said yesterday he believed that the preparation of some Great North runners may not have been up to scratch.
Nova International will review every aspect of this year's race, but the hardest change of all will be altering the misguided mindset that it is a walk in the park - and I will vouch for that.
