Newcastle United stars Jacob Murphy and Nick Pope had the honour of starting the Great North Run on Sunday.
The world famous half-marathon reached its 44th edition on Sunday, with Murphy and Pope making history.
The Newcastle United stars were the first active footballers to start the run, which was brilliant to see. Eddie Howe has previously performed the honour.
Murphy aimed a dig at Sunderland too, further endearing him to a fanbase who already cherish him dearly.
After the event, the Newcastle star showed his commitment to the honour by sharing a photo of his hand.
Jacob Murphy celebrates after a goal in a friendly between Newcastle United and Espanyol.
Photo by Newcastle United/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Jacob Murphy jokes about Newcastle United injury
The 30-year-old was high-fiving so many runners for a bit of emotional support that he now has to ice his hand.
Indeed, Murphy shared a photo on Instagram, showing just how badly his hand was bruised.
He captioned a collage of images: “An absolute honour & privilege to be an official starter of the @great_run! Super day to be involved in, I hope everyone ran a great race loved cheering you all on at the start. Enjoy the cheat meals and drinks, you’ve earned it! I’m icing my hand for the foreseeable (see last slide) well worth it though.”
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Obviously, it’s not likely to be a serious enough problem to rule him out of Newcastle’s Premier League clash against Wolves on Saturday.
It will be fascinating to see if Howe recalls Murphy for that game. He’s yet to start this season following a slight Achilles complaint, though has come off the bench in two of Newcastle’s three games this season.
Jacob Murphy names Newcastle United worst runner
In the build-up to the Great North Run, the winger was asked a series of questions.
He named Sven Botman as the best runner in the Newcastle United squad, suggesting that he’d fare the best out of all of his teammates if they were to compete.
After that, Murphy revealed that Fabian Schar was the worst “runner” in the Newcastle squad.
He said: “Terrible, terrible runner because his game is all about intelligence not the running.”
Thankfully for Schar, he’s not often put himself in a situation where he’s having to run for any great length due to his excellent positioning.