The world’s largest half marathon, the Great North Run, Great North Run Mo Farah’s final competitive appearance in the race. To celebrate the milestone, a Metro cube outside Tyne and Wear Metro’s Heworth Interchange in Gateshead has been remodeled to look like a silhouette of Farah’s famous Mobot celebration. The redesigned “MetMo” cube at Heworth Interchange will be seen by thousands of runners and spectators during the half marathon.
Metro has replaced its iconic yellow and black cube logo with a silhouette of Farah's signature move to celebrate his gold medal success. The move features Farah arching his arms and pointing to his head in the shape of an “M.”
Nexus, the organization that owns and operates Metro, has redesigned the Metro cube in tribute to Britain’s most decorated long-distance runner. Farah has an impressive four Olympic gold medals and six Great North victories. This marks the first instance when Nexus redesigned a Metro cube to honor a person’s accomplishments.
The redesign is already a hit with the public, with many customers and even Metro employees stopping to pose for photos with the cube—doing their variation on the Mobot themselves, of course. Sir Mo has also recorded a series of announcements that will be broadcast over the Metro public address system.
The cube is an iconic design in Northern England, seen at all 60 Metro stations, and was designed by graphic designer Margaret Calvert.
“The Metro cubes are a unique and iconic part of life in our region, making them the perfect place to showcase a tribute to Sir Mo Farah ahead of his final race in the Great North Run,” said Lynne Dickinson, head of station delivery at Nexus, in a statement on the organization’s website.
“This is the first time that we have ever changed the logo on a Metro cube, but we really wanted to do something to celebrate Mo’s amazing career, someone who is now just as synonymous with the proud history of the Great North Run,” she said.
The cube will be on display until the end of next week.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler Published: Sep 09, 2023 6:30 AM EDT TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
