KATE McCann has told how the pain of searching for her missing daughter Madeleine has left her unable to face Mother's Day.

The brave GP spoke of her heartache as she and husband Gerry prepared for a 10km charity run yesterday.

The couple, wearing T-shirts printed with a picture of Madeleine and the words "Don't give up on me", shared a poignant embrace on the finish line of the Miles For Missing People event in London's Hyde Park.

And frail-looking Kate, 41, also mum to five-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, said: "Every day is quite difficult. I guess Mother's Day is another reminder that Madeleine's not here.

"I think motherhood is a real gift and obviously I've got three children and it's another reminder that one of my babies isn't with me.

"Perhaps days where we would have done something really special, we don't necessarily, certainly Mother's Day."

Speaking in a Radio 2 interview broadcast this morning Kate, from Rothley, Leics, gave a rare insight into her ordeal since Madeleine went missing aged three from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

"It's always funny that line that time is a healer. I think the wounds are less raw but the pain doesn't go away," she said.

"We've got hope that Madeleine is still alive."