| JONATHAN EDWARDS ON THE GREAT NORTH RUN The Great City Games between England and Australia take place this weekend as athletes compete in 11 different events on the Quayside in Newcastle and Gateshead.
Athletics events have taken place before on the streets of other European cities and of course Usain Bolt did his spectacular sprint in Manchester this summer.
But the Great City Games are taking things to a whole new level by having multiple events and adding a team element.
I'm predicting another Ashes win for England as Australia's team isn't the strongest. Lots of athletes' seasons have finished and there are quite a few people with injuries.
There is a great list of English athletes taking part, though, and the women's mile race sees Lisa Dobriskey, Jenny Meadows and Hannah England go head-to-head.
Aside from them, long jumpers Greg Rutherford and Chris Tomlinson, and World and Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu are in action.
On Sunday, it's the turn of the Great North Run.
It's the biggest half marathon in the world. A whopping 54,000 are taking part, from elite athletes to fun runners raising a fortune for charity.
It evokes a lot of local pride in the area and rightly so.
About 20 years ago the region was in a pretty depressing state as the ship-building and coal-mining industries were dying.
But the area has reinvented itself and there is a real sense of identity. The Great North Run has become a big part of that.
Three-time London Marathon winner Martin Lel leads the male entries and Berhane Adere will be hard to beat in the women's event.
The race is going to be started by two proud sons of the North East, legendary pop star Sting and England cricketer Steve Harmison.
Enjoy your weekend,
Jonathan
Jonathan Edwards is part of the BBC TV presenting team at the Great North Run.
He was talking to Paul Birch | 
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