Star Wars theme for capital race

Organisers hope runners will dress as their favourite character

A popular 10km road race in Edinburgh has been launched this year with a new Star Wars theme in a bid to attract a record number of participants.

Organisers of the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run on Sunday 4 May with the motto "May the fourth be with you" want runners to dress up as Star Wars characters.

BBC Scotland is also asking 20 runners to wear lightweight audio recording equipment to do a running commentary.

It is hoped the event will break last year's 9,000 entrant figure.

The run, which starts and finishes in The Meadows, raised £1.2m for charity last year.

I have just watched the video of the last Bupa Great Edinburgh Run and was thinking, 'Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to look out my gym knickers' Kaye Adams

Among the thousands of runners taking part will be several well-known faces, including distance runner Liz McColgan, former presenter of Loose Woman Kaye Adams, BBC Scotland's Get It On presenter Bryan Burnett and athlete Kate Reed as well as former Spooks actress Shauna MacDonald.

Liz McColgan is running for Leukaemia Research, while the others are running for Bupa's nominated charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Ms Adams told BBC Scotland news website: "I have never done any run or race before and I have just watched the video of the last Bupa Great Edinburgh Run and was thinking, 'Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to look out my gym knickers'.

The Bupa Great Edinburgh Run is on Sunday 4 May

"Unfortunately my little belly wont sit so trimly above the knicker line as those runners do so I'm beginning to think I've made the biggest mistake of my life, but Liz McColgan says you can be a fun runner.

"I'm blaming all of this on Bryan Burnett because I met him at a Marie Curie fund raising do, a few months ago and I was as sober as a judge, so I don't know why I agreed to it, I didn't realise he was semi-professional and like a mug I've agreed to do this run."

Nigel Gough, operations director of Nova International the event organiser, said: "We had just over 9,000 participants last year and we are aiming for over 10,000 this year because we think it is a great event and great course.

"The Star Wars theme was what the previous event manager came up with because he is a Star Wars fan and we thought why not give it a go because we can see how many characters from the cast turns up."

He added he was looked forward to some of the "great anecdotes and funny comments" from the ups and downs of the course from the BBC's running commentary video blog.

'Fantastic atmosphere'

Ms McColgan's said: "The Edinburgh 10km is a tough course because there a couple of really big hills in it.

"It is a great event, and one of the most scenic routes I have ever run and the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic.

"You don't have to eat an awful lot the morning before a race, a couple of slices of toast three hours before you run is more than enough, it is more what you eat the couple of days before which matters."

However, she warned against "mucking around with your diet" just days before a race.

Runners have until the 21 April to enter the race, which costs £26.

The Tesco Junior Great Edinburgh Run 2008, which is a 2.4km race, is being held on Saturday 3 May.