TENS of the thousands of fun runners and some of the world's elite athletes are limbering up for Sunday's Bupa Great North Run.

The 22nd running of the annual half-marathon from Newcastle to South Shields has attracted a record 47,000 field.

After the front-running elite field for men, women and wheelchair athletes, and the pick of the club athletes, most of the others are in the fun category, boosted by a host of star names joining the also- rans for the day.

There will be the usual array of pantomime dromedaries, cross-dressing French maids, Orville the ducks and Batmen and Robins bringing up the rear, many running for charity.

The half-marathon is the culmination of a weekend festival of running on Tyneside.

Organisers at sports promotions agency Nova International have spread the programme over two days, concentrating tomorrow's activities on the Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides, in the shadow of the Millennium Bridge.

Nova marketing director David Hart said: "I can assure everyone that with lots going on everywhere, this is going to be the best Bupa Great North Run ever."

Between 12.30pm and 2pm there will be a series of Bupa Great North Mile challenge races, for wheelchair competitors, under-20 male and females and international men and women. Running over a circular course, taking in both Millennium and Swing bridges, the fields include top athletes Kelly Holmes, Jolanda Ceplak, Reyes Estevez and Rui Silva.

They are followed by the Junior Great North Run, starting near the law court complex, on the Newcastle Quayside, at 2.30pm.

An entry of about 6,000 youngsters will tackle a 5km course taking in both bridges, all covered live by Children's BBC TV.

The youngsters then head off to Gateshead Stadium for a concert featuring several teen bands, also covered by Children's BBC.

Tomorrow's activities end with the now traditional Pasta Party, in which thousands of Great North Run competitors load up on carbohydrates, courtesy of store group Tesco, near the finish line at South Shields.

Triple Olympic gold medal winning oarsman Matthew Pinsent will start events on Sunday, on the Central Motorway in Newcastle. The wheelchair athletes, including Olympian Tanni Grey-Thompson, start at 10.10am, with the elite women, including Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, starting at 10.15am, while the rest set off at 10.40am.

Runners follow the usual route, across the Tyne Bridge, onto the Felling bypass, along the John Reid, King George and Prince Edward roads, up Redwell Lane, to the finish on South Shields' sea front.

Road closures along the route come into force from midnight on Saturday onwards, with the first stretches reopening from about 3pm.

Metro trains will operate every seven-and-a-half minutes on stretches of the network between Newcastle Airport and South Shields between 7am and 5pm on Sunday, with the cross-Tyne ferries running continuously from 10am to 5pm.

Shuttle buses will also run throughout between the ferry landings, Metro stops and other transport interchanges.