The ballot for this year’s annual Two Castles run between Warwick and Kenilworth, which each year raises more than £100,000 for charity, opens on Saturday (February 1) with 4,000 places up for grabs.

The Two Castles Run, which is organised by the Rotary Club of Kenilworth and Leamington Cycling & Athletics Club and is one of the main events in the SalfordRoad Race League, will be run on Sunday June 14.

Race organiser and Rotarian Philip Southwell said that one person could register others in a team or group and that the ballot would close at a minute to midnight on February 14. This will be the third consecutive year in the event’s 37-year history that Rotary has run a ballot, rather than the ‘first come, first served’ arrangement.

Richard Thornton, joint senior partner of sponsoring law firm Berrymans Solicitors, said: “The move to a ballot system, which is obviously used so successfully with major events such as the London Marathon, has proved to be a much fairer way to ensure registration for the thousands who wish to take part in this increasingly popular run.

“The Two Castles is an excellent event and we are delighted to be the headline sponsor for an unprecedented 15^th year, along with fielding a team of runners and manning the water station at Kenilworth Castle,” he said.

Registration will be via the FullonSport Website and will be drawn on March 1, with successful runners being notified by email. Those who are unsuccessful will automatically be added to the waiting list, said Mr Southwell.

As in previous years, the entire route will be closed to traffic for the safety of the runners.