THERE'S just two days to go until 13,000 runners of all ages and abilities will be pounding the town's streets as part of this year's Bournemouth Marathon Festival (BMF).

And this year's event, which runs from Saturday October 1 to Sunday October 2, looks set to be the biggest and the best since it first launched in 2013.

The full weekend of events features the spectacular Supernova 5k, the fast and flat Supersonic 10k and two Junior Races on Saturday, with the Marathon and Half Marathon races on Sunday.

Team GB athlete Claire Hallissey won the women’s Supersonic 10k race in 2015 in a course record of 0:37:11. The Bristol & West athlete, who competed in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympic Games said: “It was hard, but really satisfying. The atmosphere was great. It was fantastic – really good fun.”

No stranger to the BMF weekend is 'Marathon Man', Steve Edwards, who set a new world record as he crossed the finish line at the 2015 Bournemouth Marathon by completing his 700th marathon and averaging 3 hours 18 minutes per race.

Afterwards, he said: “I’ve been running them every week for as long as I can remember just to get to 700 today. It gets ever harder as I get older – I am 53 soon."

Steve, who has run every Bournemouth Marathon since its launch four years ago, added: “Bournemouth has always held a special place in my heart and I dream of one day retiring to the town’s sandy shores!”

For more information on the event, visit the website run-bmf.com.

Road closures will be in operation over the weekend, for more details see run-bmf.com

Since the Bournemouth Marathon Festival started in 2013, it has helped to raise more than £1 million for good causes.