THE final 600 places for York’s marathon have sold out within just two minutes.

The capacity for the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon in October had been raised to 6,100, and after going on sale at 9am yesterday, the extra places had gone by 9.02am, organisers said.

Event director Sara Birkinshaw said: “To sell out in just two minutes is phenomenal. There is clearly a huge appetite for a marathon in Yorkshire and we’re fulfilling that demand, not only by putting on an event, but having it in such a beautiful location and being able to create a really flat course – which is very attractive to long-distance runners.”

The Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon – organised under the Jane Tomlinson’s For All Events umbrella – is part of a fundraising legacy to Jane, who raised almost £2m for charity by tackling endurance challenges despite having incurable cancer.

The York route will begin and end at the University of York in Heslington, taking in the city centre and numerous surrounding villages.

Entries for the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon have flooded in from across the UK, France, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA and even the Caribbean. Yesterday numerous excited runners announced they had got places on Twitter, with Mark Challender writing “Bagged a place in the @RunYorkshire Yorkshire Marathon.

“WThat’s how I’ll be celebrating my 30th. #rollonoctober” and Ian Roberts wrote “Get in there, got a place for the #yorkmara! Result! Nice way to ease the nerves ahead of this weekend’s Manchester Marathon!”

Runners can choose to raise funds for any cause of their choice or one of the event’s partner charities – Martin House Children’s Hospice, Macmillan Cancer Support, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Parkinson’s UK, The Haven breast cancer support centre, CLIC Sargent, Candlelighters, St Leonard’s Hospice, Sue Ryder Care and the Jane Tomlinson Appeal.

Mike Tomlinson talks about setting up the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon>>