It will be an emotional moment when a proud Mr Tomlinson announces that last year's race, which he and his late wife set up together, raised £500,000 for charity.

But with the pain still acute of losing his wife, the task of organising the 2008 run alone and the thought of her not being at the start line on June 22 weighs heavily.

"It will be an emotional day. It is probably the day I am most looking forward to and at the same time least looking forward to, but we have got to concentrate on it being a celebration.

"Jane won't be on the start line or the finishing line where she stood and clapped everyone home last year. We can't replace her.

"But that is why we are doing it, so we can make a difference and there doesn't have to be a situation where people like Jane are missing," he said.

"When we started out, when Jane did the first marathon, we didn't realise you could raise money and that first marathon we raised £25,000. For last year's run we raised twenty times that much."

The public response was overwhelming after Jane Tomlinson's death in September, after seven years battling terminal breast cancer. Tributes were led by the Queen and the Prime Minister and more than 1,000 people lined the streets of Leeds to pay their respects at her funeral.

That depth of feeling is already showing in early support for next year's run, open to 4,000 more competitors than last year.

Mr Tomlinson said: "We have already been overwhelmed by the numbers of people who ran last year sending in priority applications for this year.

"It is a bit surreal when the postman arrives at your door and empties half a bag at the door, full of letters from people supporting Jane's Appeal. There are a lot of people running because of Jane, but hopefully they are also running because they like the event."

Celebrity patrons Nell McAndrew, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and Tim Stimpson will join Mr Tomlinson in Millennium Square, Leeds, today to open the registration for the 2008 Leeds 10K: Jane Tomlinson's Run For All.

It is sponsored by supermarket chain Morrisons and the Yorkshire Post is continuing to support the event as a media partner.

Profits from the run are split between the five benefiting charities of Jane's Appeal, but competitors are free to raise money for any cause they choose.

Last year's run raised £300,000 for the partner charities – £74,000 for Macmillan, £48,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research, £27,000 for Martin House Hospice, £12,000 for Bluebell Wood and £3,000 for Sparks.

Jane's Appeal raised £140,000 from the run and the remaining sponsorship money going to a wide variety of good causes supported by individual runners, with some earning up to £15,000.

Jane's Appeal supports children's and cancer charities. It is undecided how cash raised from the 2007 event will be split, but some donations will be made to charities which helped Jane, including St Gemma's Hospice, Leeds, where she died aged 43 on September 3.


How to register for the race

Registration for the 2008 Leeds 10K: Jane Tomlinson's Run For All will open today from 11.30am to 1pm in Millennium Square, Leeds.

The 2008 event, on June 22, also needs 300 race day volunteers and bands to provide entertainment for the 12,000 competitors along the city centre route.

For more information on getting involved visit www.runforall. com