Runners will be looking to the moon to light their way in a relay challenge across the North of England for the Bradford Millennium Scanner Appeal.

The 38-strong group from Baildon Runners hope to raise more than £1,000 for the appeal in the run from St Bees Head in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay.

They will take advantage of long hours of daylight in the 190-mile effort starting shortly after dawn on Friday, June 5 - but during the night will be hoping for cloudless skies to allow the full moon to illuminate the route in some of the remotest parts of the Dales.

The last runner is expected to arrive on the Yorkshire coast less than 36 hours after the start.

Organiser John Dickinson said the runners who are based at Baildon Rugby Club in Jenny Lane were looking forward to the challenge and hoped to raise as much as possible in sponsorship.

He would be taking on the first 14-mile leg of the journey and other runners would tackle between seven and 18 miles each before being picked up and replaced by another team member who would take up the baton.

The night runners would use torches attached by elastic to their heads to help them find their way between Keld through Swaledale to Catterick.

"We chose the date to get as near to the full moon as possible so if it's a reasonably cloudless night it's never going to get truly dark," he said.

"A lot of it on that stretch is on track but there is some road work and they will be wearing head torches to help them.

"There may be one or two stretches particularly at night where they are not running.

"It is not a race but really something for everyone to get involved in.

"People will join in and back out as we go along when they've done their relay but we hope to get as many people as possible for a grand finish in Robin Hood's Bay."

* The Scanner Appeal total now stands at £554,500.

A total of £4,000 remains of pound-for-pound match funding from Sovereign Health Care.

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