A RUNNING club is staging a 24-hour relay event in support of one of its members, who is undergoing treatment for leukaemia.

Earlier this year Elvet Striders managed to sign more than 100 people up as stem cell donors following the news that Shaun Roberts, one of its long-standing members, had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Following on from its Parkrun registration event, it is holding the relay event to try and raise enough money for blood cancer charity DKMS to cover the cost of putting those people on the register.

Club chairman Jonathan Hamill said: “We had an amazing response for the registration. We had 80 on the day of the Park Run and with the people who signed up before and after it was easily into three figures.

“It costs £40 to register someone so we thought this could be an opportunity to try and offset the cost for the charity.”

Mr Roberts, from Wolsingham, was diagnosed with the cancer in January following a routine blood test.

Elvet Striders had decided to put on the registration event to help find him a stem cell donor, however just prior to the event another match was found.

The 61-year-old is currently waiting for the transplant.

The running relay, which takes place at Aykley Heads, in Durham, will start at 12pm on Saturday, June 23 and continue until 12pm the following day.

Up to eight people can join a team to take turns to run the 5km route and participants can complete as many laps as they want.

Mr Hamill added: “We’re asking local running clubs and businesses to enter teams and join us to support DKMS whilst enjoying a spectacular running challenge.

“Each team can decide on the start time and total distance – each lap is 5km (the same distance as a Parkrun) and we suspect teams will enjoy seeing who can run furthest.”

Caroline Richardson, interim head of fundraising at DKMS, said: “On behalf of the team at DKMS, I’d like to say how excited we are about the 24-hour relay event organised by the Elvet Striders.

“The event is an incredible way to support DKMS and challenge yourself, whilst enjoying the woodlands of Durham.

“It is a great opportunity for local teams to compete against each other to see which team can run furthest and which team can raise the most money for an amazing cause.”

For more details visit www.elvet-striders.uk/dkmsrelays or to donate visit www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/deletebloodcancer/dkmsrelays.