Twenty-seven of Reuben's friends and family will take part

Reuben Wilson, 28, collapsed and died less than three miles from the finish line during the event last year.

A group of 27 family and friends, including Mr Wilson's four sisters and two brothers, will run the Tyneside half-marathon on Sunday.

His sister Samantha said: "We're doing it to finish the race for Reuben."

Mr Wilson, a company director from Rawdon, on the outskirts of Leeds, was one of four runners who died in last year's race.

'Physically fit'

At an inquest, Terrence Carney, the Gateshead and South Tyneside Coroner, said all the runners who died had been physically fit and well-prepared for the event.

He said: "I am satisfied essentially that in each case the mechanism of death has been a sudden interruption in the rhythm of the heart, a so-called arrhythmia, the nature of which is not readily identified on post-mortem but which suddenly induced this sudden cardiac event in each case."

Mr Wilson had taken part in the race to raise money for the Martin House Hospice which cares for terminally-ill children.

His three-year-old nephew, Miles Bradbourne, suffers from Hurler Syndrome and has a limited life expectancy.

The child's mother, Naomi, was also competing in last year's race.

This year, the family are all raising money for Miles.

For more details or to sponsor the family email: judah.wilson@gfsplastics.co.uk.