PARACHUTISTS will drop in at the start of tomorrow's 25th Great North Run with a special message from Prime Minister Tony Blair to the record 50,000 runners.

Members of the RAF Falcons display team, who are taking part in the event, will descend from 12,000ft to the Newcastle city centre to deliver a recording from the Sedgefield MP wishing the participants all the best.

The stunt will seen by millions of viewers watching the BBC's live coverage of the half-marathon.

"We often drop in front of thousands of people, but never 50,000. It should be a fantastic sight to see all those people as we come down," said Sergeant John Connor.

Ashes win hero Paul Collingwood, who plays for Durham, will be there at the start and the tiny Ashes urn will be on display to inspire the runners.

Tenor Sean Ruane will sing the hymn Jerusalem, as he did at the start of matches during England's victorious Test series.

More than 76,000 people applied for a place in the run, which is expected to raise more than £10m for charities and various good causes.

While the elite runners will be looking for glory, for the majority the run will be a day for fun and friendship and achieving personal goals, however modest they may seem.

Celebrity runners include BBC football commentator John Motson, Geordie actor and singer Jimmy Nail, Sports Minister Richard Caborn and actor Christopher Eccleston, star of Our Friends in the North and Dr Who.

The run's special atmosphere will be fostered by the thousands of people who will line the route to South Shields cheering on the runners, from top athletes to fun-runners dressed as pantomime dromedaries, bananas and waiters.

Motor mechanic John Ford, 58, of East Boldon, South Tyneside, will be running his 25th Great North Run - he entered the first one because he wanted to get fit - and is one of scores of runners raising money for Cancer Research UK.

He will be running with his wife. Edna, who is the secretary of the charity's Sunderland fundraising committee.

Jackie Boyle, 44, of Washington, will be running for Meningitis UK in memory of her 19-year-old son, John, who died of the illness hours after landing at Newcastle Airport following a family holiday.

Helen Blackburn, 22, of Durham, will be among 505 runners taking part to raise money for Diabetes UK.

Her grandfather, Thomas, died in February of kidney problems linked to his diabetes.

"I really wanted to take part this year," she said. "My grandfather's death came as such a shock. It will be a comfort to my grandmother to me run the event in memory of grandad."

BBC1 will cover the run from 9.30am and there will be a 40-minute highlights show on BBC 2 at 6pm.

It will also be screened by satellite television stations in Europe, the US, Canada, China, India, Australia and Africa.