NEWS of the deaths of four competitors last night marred what appeared to have been a glorious day in the sun in the Great North Run.

Stifling conditions made the race more difficult for some of the 50,000 competitors tackling the half marathon, from Newcastle to South Shields.

Although tens of thousands successfully made it to the finishing line, raising potentially millions of pounds for charity, many found the going tough on the 13.1 mile undulating course, under increasingly hot conditions.

Ambulance services reported a busier than usual day for the run, the 25th since Brendan Foster and fellow North-East athletics enthusiasts tentatively staged the first, attracting a field of 12,000.

A quarter of a century on and there was the usual euphoric mood of expectation among the tens of thousands massed at the starting line on Newcastle's central motorway.

Following England's victory in the Ashes series with Australia, the crowds were stirred by a rendition of the unofficial cricket anthem, Jerusalem.

One of the England heroes, local boy Paul Collingwood, carried the replica of the Ashes urn in front of the waiting masses, before flying off to help Durham to promotion in cricket's one-day totesport National League, at Chester-le-Street, later in the day.

The Red Arrows and RAF Flying Falcons parachute display team also performed their daredevil routines to further add to the colour and drama around the starting point.

The Flying Falcons brought with them a goodwill message from Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Veteran North-East athlete, former Elswick Harrier Mike McLeod, the winner of the first two Great North Runs, was given the honour of firing the starting pistol, signalling the usual surge of bodies on their way to the Tyne Bridge.

Despite the heat, records were broken by Eritrea's Zersenay Tadesse, in 59min and 5sec, in the men's event, and by British wheelchair athletes David Weir and Shelley Woods.

Another east African, Ethiopia's Deratu Tulu, won the women's race.

Behind the more serious club runners was the usual collection of French maids, Batmen and Robins, Elvis Presleys, and the obligatory pantomime horse.

Bananas seemed to be the fruit of choice among the fancy-dress wearers, with many competitors sporting the T-shirts of their chosen charities.

A record £10m was expected to be raised from the event, with UK Cancer Research the most prominent of the charities along the course.

The Great North Run has also increasingly attracted the stars, with an array of television and sporting celebrities, as well as Sports Minister Richard Caborn.

Among the celebrity runners was model Nell McAndrew, who despite revealing she was pregnant, still managed to finish in an impressive time of just over 90 minutes.

Many were almost anonymous faces among the throng of humanity pounding the run beat to South Shields.

A total of nearly 690,000 runners have now taken part in the event in those 25 years, now apparently a permanent fixture in the nation's sporting calendar.