TWO Olympic heroes will be in the region this weekend for the Great North Run.

Double gold winner Kelly Holmes will get the race under way, while four-times Olympic champion Matthew Pinsent will be among the 49,000 tackling the 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields on Sunday.

Other celebrity runners include Charlie Dimmock of Ground Force, chef Gordon Ramsey, jockey Richard Dunwoody, Simon Thomas and Angellica Bell from CBBC, Rob Bonnet from BBC News, Ray Stubbs and Mark Bright from BBC Sport, and a large team from the BBC Weather Centre including David Braine, Philip Avery and John Hammond.

Dave Gordon, BBC head of major events, said: "The Great North Run shows the North-East at its very best and this event has grown to become one of the highlights of the sporting calendar."

The women's field includes two times winner Sonia O'Sullivan, world 10,000m champion Berhane Adere, of Ethiop-ia and Australia's world cross-country champion Benita Johnson.

They are joined in the Men's race by Great Manchester Run winner Craig Mottram and double winner Tushar Patel leads the wheelchair field.

Stars of TV show Byker Grove, Hannah Clement-son, who plays Zoe, Tom Graham (Robert), Chelsea Halfpenny (Lucy) and Paul Meynell (Stumpy), take part in the 4km Junior Great North Run on Saturday, in aid of children's charity Barnardo's.