Thousands join golden girl Ellie Simmonds for Great Birmingham Run

The quadruple gold medallist cheered on the 20,000 runners and wheelchair racers as they took part in the annual half-marathon.

She joined the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Mike Leddy to sound the air horns to start the athletes off on their 13.1m route around the city.

Among those testing their mettle was Sandwell marathon man 'Blind Dave' Heeley who was wearing his West Bromwich Albion shirt to raise awareness of The Celebration statue to honour three of the club's most famous players.

Paralympian Ellie, from Aldridge, said it was 'an honour' to have been chosen to start the run.

"It's nice to see so many people together doing something for a great cause. I'm an Aldridge girl so it's good to be a part of something in my area," she said.

"It's a really fun event and everybody has a great time. It was nice to see David Weir who was a legend at the Paralympics and also Blind Dave."

The 18-year-old said she had returned to her training and was now concentrating on her 'long-term goal' of competing at the 2016 Olympics.

"At the moment I'm enjoying training after a bit of a break," she said.

The event attracted runners from across Birmingham and the Black Country as well as further afield. Some competitors had donned costumes for the occasion with a banana and a donkey suit among those chosen by runners.

Local running clubs including Tipton Harriers and Stafford Harriers were represented. Among the runners was 24-year-old student Liam Roberts of Harborne, who runs with Tipton Harriers.

Also taking part were 25 friends and family of Kevin Paterson, 36, who lived in Birmingham and died when he collapsed after crossing the finish line last year.

His sister Kathryn Cowen was part of the group, which was raising money for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young.

She said it was an emotional day.

Uganda's Thomas Ayeko finished first in the elite men's event while Britain's Gemma Steel won the elite women's race in record-breaking time.