ANOTHER distance run is to be held in the North-East - but the 10km event will only be open to women.

The Great Women's Run, the first to be staged in the region, is to be held on June 25 and will take in a scenic route along Sunderland's coastline.

The venture was launched yesterday at the Marriott Hotel, in Seaburn, where it was revealed that the run is being organised by Nova International, the company behind the Great North Run, in partnership with Sunderland City Council and in association with Cancer Research UK.

Speaking at the launch, the run's special projects director and one of the founders of the Great North Run, John Caine, said similar all-female races were proving popular in London, Dublin, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester and Oslo.

In a video recording at the launch, Nova chairman Brendan Foster said: "The popularity of women's running has grown dramatically in recent years, with more and more women getting involved in running.''

In the first year of the Great North Run, he told the audience, nearly 80 per cent of participants were male.

"In last year's BUPA Great North Run," he said, "the male/female split was almost 50/50, which is a phenomenal shift in the popularity of women's running.''

The event is open to females aged 15 years and over and will be suitable for runners of all abilities.

All runners will receive a Cancer Research UK T-shirt and sponsorship form.

Emma Duncan, 31, from Northumberland, whose mother died of the disease aged 32, and her grandmother at 46, urged as many women as possible to join her in the run for their health's sake and to raise funds for vital research which has helped save her life.

To register for the event or for more information, visit www.greatrun.org