THE Great Manchester Run is already a record breaker - even before the starting gun fires.

The 10km race has attracted its full compliment of 20,000 runners in just 55 days, easily beating last year's total of 16,000.

Fun-runners will rub shoulders with elite athletes in the race around the city centre, which is only in its third year but already established on the sporting calendar.

Last year, competitors took part in the race and raised '1m, a record for the city in a sporting charity event.

This time Kirsty Howard will be wearing her special No 1 racing vest again as part of her effort to raise '5m to secure the future of Francis House Children's Hospice in Didsbury.

Fantastic

The event, which is sponsored by Bupa and backed by the M.E.N., is on Sunday, May 22.

A junior event will be run the day before at Sportcity and will include a special one-mile race for youngsters and adults sponsored by David Lloyd Leisure.

David Hart, of Nova International, marketing director for the event, said: "The response from the public has been absolutely fantastic. It's a reflection of the organisation of the race, the BBC TV coverage, the partnership with Manchester city council and all of the public services who are involved.

"With the junior races being held the day before, the meeting has expanded into a two-day festival of fun running.

"The fact that entries are still pouring in is a tribute to the run, which was recently voted the third most popular running event in the country by readers of Runner's World."

What did you think of last year's event? Have your say.

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