HUNDREDS of people were on the run in Hook at the weekend - but it was all for a good cause.

The 11th annual Hook Fun Run and Road Race has been hailed "a resounding success" by its organisers.

Runners from the village and beyond pounded the hot streets during the charity event on Sunday, with the 800 competitors filling the available places to capacity.

All of the money raised will go to local causes and, according to the organisers, this year's £3,000 target looks set to be met.

"There is always a friendly village atmosphere at the event, no matter how big it becomes," said race compere Roger Cutler as hundreds of people warmed up to tunes from Frimley Park Hospital Radio.

Firing the starter's pistol was special guest Kate Allenby, a bronze medallist in the Modern Pentathlon at the Sydney Olympics.

The first event was a toddler's dash, which the day's youngest competitors threw themselves into with gusto.

Next came the 2.5 mile fun run, and among the hundreds of people who set off from the start-line at Hook Infant and Junior Schools was a family team headed by Nikki Kew, 38, from Heckfield. Their T-shirts bore the words "Remembering Fudgie," - the nickname of Nikki's sister Francine Buckland who died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome two years ago.

The team ran for the SAD Association, and want to fund a new ECG machine, which can help pick up the warning signs of this deadly hereditary condition, for Hook Surgery.

First over the line in the 2.5-mile race was 17-year-old Ben Hazell from Sheldons Road, Hook - for the third year running. A jubilant Ben, from Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletics Club, clocked a time of 15 minutes and 42 seconds - just a second slower than last year's winning time. The female winner was Rebecca Skelton, from the same club, who made the distance in 16 minutes flat.

Leslie Wrangle, of Wessex Road Runners, and Dawn Coxhead, from Rotherwick, were the first man and woman home in the five-mile race, while Matt Cartailler, of Farnham Triathalon Club, and Kaye Harwood, of Lordshill Road Runners, came first in the gruelling 10-mile road race.

Organisations in the area of Hook, Rotherwick and Newnham are invited to apply for a share of this year's cash pot.

Requests should be addressed to either Mr S Tomlinson, 14 Hop Garden Road, Hook, Hants RG27 9TS or Mr G Kingsbury, 30 Bramshott Drive, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9EY.