2012 is set to be a year that will be synonymous with both sporting prowess and landmarks.

In a space of a few months this summer the Olympics will be played out in front of an expectant crowd in London, the European Football Championships will be played in Poland and Ukraine and the Queen will publicly celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

It is fitting then, that an event is set to take place in June that mixes the two – a sporting occasion celebrating a landmark in style.

On Sunday, June 10, the Great Midlands Fun Run will see runners pounding the streets around the town for the tenth summer in a row, looking to add to the incredible total of more than £2million raised for good causes so far.

Year on year the grand total rises, but it is easy to forget that without one man, it would not change at all.

That is because 50-year-old Tracey Spare has seen it all before.

He was involved in 1982 when the run – then known as the Sutton Fun Run – was led by a committee involving his father, and he was involved in 2003, when after 21 years the event was re-launched as the Great Midlands Fun Run.

And despite organising each of the last nine events – and currently tackling this, the tenth – the GMFR organiser admits that as a whole it can still surprise him.

Tracey said: "My key initiative was to create a vehicle for which people could use to raise money for whichever charity that they wished to.

"Back in 2003 when we created the event we didn't know that it would still be going now; we didn't know it would be the success it has gone on to be.

"We had the Sutton Fun Run running before, but this was something different, it was our chance to organise a unique event, using a unique course, and to open it up to the whole of the Midlands.

"In that first year we managed to raise more than £40,000 and had more than 2,300 people taking part."

That impressive feat was despite the fact that the first official Great Midlands Fun Run took place in September, clashing with a number of events like the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham.

"It was a nightmare, really, the time we had picked for it to go ahead – but it was still a success," said Tracey.

"I can't believe how popular it has become since we started.

"That is down to the support and loyalty of sponsors and the public who continue to come back year after year.

"In fact, in the last two years we have had to start turning people away due to the sheer number of people interested in taking part."

That is a problem Tracey is obviously trying to put right.

In a bid to combat the increase of interest in the now annual event, numbers for the Fun Run have been increased from 6,000 to 7,000 for the tenth anniversary this year.

Despite going up by an extra thousand runners, Tracey is confident that, if they could logistically accommodate more runners, then numbers could easily rise further still.

"Last year we had 6,000 running and we managed to raise a record figure of £228,000," Tracey said.

"That brought the nine-year figure to £1.24million raised, and more than £2million since the original Sutton Fun Run.

"We never set targets for money raised or anything like that, but there is almost an expectation now that we will beat our totals.

"That shows to me that starting the Great Midlands Fun Run in 2003 – after the Sutton Fun Run had ended – was the correct decision all round. It shows the interest is there with people.

"In fact, I have always said that if we could get away with it we could have 25,000 people running it."

Making innovations like increasing numbers is something that Tracey has never been afraid to do since starting the run back in 2003.

Aspects such as tags on shoes to increase timing accuracy, to the route itself have all changed in the past. And with the ten-year anniversary set to be the biggest run yet, that innovation is not about to change.

Tracey said: "This year we have changed a few little bits and pieces again and hopefully it will make it more enjoyable for all those taking part.

"We're having a different timing mechanism so that you don't cross the finishing line and have to wait to have it taken from your shoe. For us that was something that was more annoying than anything else.

"We wanted the only thing you had to worry about come the end was to have a medal placed round your neck.

"That has been something I have never wanted to lose. I think after running or walking all that way there is something deeply rewarding about actually having the medal placed around your neck by someone.

"We have also enabled it so that spectators with mobile phones can have updates sent to them via text with where you are and times.

"They will know where to be to cheer you on and when."

And after looking at the past and present, what of the future of the event.

Tracey said: "I think that however much we raise, however well the event does this year, we need time at the end to sit down and undertake a review to see where we can go from here.

"If we can once again change one or two small things we will try to do that. We want to take this forward and hopefully there will be another ten years after this to do so."

For details of how to enter this year's tenth anniversary Great Midlands Fun Run, see Page 54.