THE Great North Run, which starts in Newcastle tomorrow, has attracted a record 49,000 entrants, organisers revealed last night.

People running for good causes are expected to collect more than £8m in sponsorship - the highest amount ever raised from the run.

Among those pounding the streets will be Olympic hero Matthew Pinsent, while Athens track heroine Kelly Holmes will start the race.

Other celebrities include Charlie Dimmock, of Ground Force, chef Gordon Ramsey and jockey Richard Dunwoody.

Sir Christopher Chattaway, who broke the 5,000m record 50 years ago, is also taking part, with his three sons.

Among North-East runners will be three generations of the same family hoping to raise money for a charity which provides clean drinking water for communities in Africa and Asia.

Bob Stobbs, a 42-year-old from Newcastle, will be running alongside his father, 70-year-old George, and his son Jason, 17.

Seven members of the same family touched by the work of Teesside Hospice Care Foundation are also running.

They are hoping to raise £2,600 - to cover one day's care at the hospice.

Rob Lewis arranged for his family to run in memory of father-in-law Brian Kave, who died at Teesside Hospice in April last year.

Mr Lewis said: "The hospice does a wonderful job and this is our way of saying thank-you to all the staff who helped look after my father-in-law."

The seven runners are Mr Kave's daughter, Carol, his son-in-law Mr Lewis, one of his grandsons, Shaun, and two of his grand-daughters, Sarah and Louise, and their boyfriends Glenn Bowman and Kirk Nodding.

For George Nicholson, of Durham, who has taken part in every Great North Run since it began in 1981, this year's event will be his most important.

George, his wife Anne, and four members of staff from their Open Fire Centre business will be competing to raise money for research into the rare disease metachromatic leukodystrophy, which has struck down their two and a half-year-old grand-daughter, Emily Hart.

The start of tomorrow's race will be especially emotional for Rachel Hills because it will be a year ago to the day that her 23-year-old brother, Chris, lost his five-year battle against leukaemia.

Rachel, a former pupil of Durham Johnston School will run with boyfriend Matthew Camm to raise money for Leukaemia Research and the Chris Hills Travel Fund, care of the Sargent Cancer Care for Children.

Meanwhile, Barry Hill, 47, who runs The Village Store and Post Office in Delves Lane, near Consett, County Durham, only put out his sponsorship form a week ago. But customers and suppliers have rallied round, and he has secured promises for £600 for the Delves Lane Methodist Church and the Meningitis Research Foundation.

Six years ago, his daughter, Sarah Louise, then aged ten, was struck down with meninigitis and spent six days in intensive care at Newcastle General Hospital.

The Great North Mile event takes place today, with races starting from noon. Kelly Holmes will compete at 1.05pm in the Elite Women's Mile.

It is followed by the BUPA Mini Great North Run for under-eights at 1.45pm, and the BUPA Junior Great North Run, for eight to 15-year-olds, which begins at 2pm.

Tomorrow, the Elite wheelchair race starts at 10.10am and the Elite women's race begins five minutes later.

The Elite men's race, and the mass start for everyone else, is at 10.40am.

* More than 1,500 young runners will be joining the Banana Army to raise money for charity in the Bupa Junior Great North Run today.

The ranks of runners are taking part in the 4km race in aid of Leukaemia Research, and will be wearing bright yellow T-shirts. Among them will be Sally Gilman, a teacher from Newcastle, who will wear a giant banana costume to run in memory of her cousin, Rob, who died from leukaemia in 1999, aged eight.

Watch it on TV

BBC television is planning extensive coverage of the events over the weekend.

Highlights include:

Saturday

1.05pm: BBC1 Grandstand, Great North Mile Preview

2pm: CBBC Channel, Junior Great North Run

3.50pm-4.30pm: BBC1 Grandstand, Great North Mile

6pm-7pm: CBBC Channel, CBBC Junior Great North Run Party

Sunday

9.30am-1.35pm: BBC1, live coverage of the half marathon

5.15pm-6pm: BBC2, highlights of the day's run