The early start did not deter runners from entering Southampton Airport’s annual Runway Run which is fully booked.

A thousand entrants signed up in record time – less than a fortnight.

This year's event will be the biggest yet after the field was expanded from 700.

The airport’s charity partner, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, is now accepting applications for a waiting list, with around 100 runners already waiting in line.

Airport managing director Neil Garwood said: “What a fantastic achievement to sell 1000 tickets in record time. The run is a very unique and exciting opportunity to complete 5k on our runway at the crack of dawn, and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone. I have already started training to beat my personal best!”

Ray Southam, partnerships manager for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance said: “We are overwhelmed by the support received for the charity through this unique event. There’s going to be a wonderful atmosphere on the morning and we’re looking forward to welcoming the 1,000 participants to thank them for their support.

“The Southampton Airport Runway Run has already raised enough to fund one day of our life-saving service and we’re hopeful that through sponsorship, our runners will help to raise even more to keep us flying and saving lives across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.”

Registration on the day will commence at 4:30am with a warm up at 5:15am. The run will begin at 5:30am and will finish by 6:30am so that the runway can be cleared ready for commercial flights of the day to begin.