Thousands of athletes will hit the streets of Basildon next year when the town hosts a marathon to beat all marathons.

More than 5,000 runners, led by a field of international athletic stars, will converge on the town in September in what is being billed as the county's premier athletics event of the year.

With Basildon celebrating its 50th anniversary next year, the race is tipped to be the jewel in the crown of a golden year for the town and will be backed by This Is Essex partner, the Evening Echo.

The 26-mile run could start at the Festival Leisure Park and will include two circuits of the town, taking in Dry Street and Langdon Hills, before finishing in Gloucester Park.

It is hoped to televise the event, which will form part of the Essex Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) championship. Backing the run is Basildon's 1994 Commonwealth Games 5000 metres gold medal winner Rob Denmark and former London Marathon winner Eamonn Martin.

Organiser, St Luke's Hospice, hopes to raise more than £100,000 from the event.

St Luke's fundraising manger Kerry Davison said: "We are hoping to attract an enormous amount of interest. It has been agreed by the Essex AAA that this is the marathon for Essex in 1999.

"It will be a key event in the town's 50th anniversary celebrations."

All that is needed now is a big-name sponsor to make the event a winner. Kerry said: "If we can get the right sponsor and the right prize money then we expect to attract major international runners."

St Luke's has billed the run as a family day out with a host of events being held at Gloucester Park.

A 13-mile half marathon and three-mile run has been lined up, while younger athletes can compete in a 50 paces Toddlerthon.

Limbering up - Denise Tilson, Kerry Davison and Natasha Gant in training for Basildon's marathon event.

Picture: ANDY PALMER

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.