IT is very sad indeed that the 25th anniversary of the Great North Run and Zersenay Tadesse's fastest half-marathon time ever witnessed, should be over- shadowed by four deaths.

The Great North Run has been a major participation event for a quarter of a century.

Many of the runners take part not because they are natural athletes but rather because they are driven to raise money for a good cause and have been sponsored by friends and family. Between them they collect many millions every year.

Over the 25 years, eight people have died. To put that figure into context, during the same period more than 650,000 people crossed the finishing line.

The race organisers clearly take their safety responsibilities to the competitors very seriously.

Doctors, nurses, paramedics and volunteers with an interest in sports medicine line the route ready to help. In yesterday's unexpectedly warm weather hundreds of thousands of bottles of water were handed out to help keep runners cool and hydrated.

Sadly it is an impossible job to cover every eventuality.

A recent academic survey of injuries suffered by participants in the London Marathon - the only other public participation event on a similar scale to the Great North Run - found that the chances of being hospitalised were 1 in 10,000. The chance of a runner actually dying was 1 in 67,414.

In fact, marathon runners had a greater risk of being killed by an asteroid or a comet.

In 1996, when two competitors died on the Great North Run, some people asked if the event should continue. It did and tens of thousands of runners didn't allow such terrible misfortune to put them off taking part.

The race is more popular now than it has ever been and despite yesterday's terrible news it deserves to carry on.