ORGANISERS are on their marks for a hot new event which is set to bring in the dough for Manorlands.

Participants are challenged to 'run, ride, run for a hot cross bun' in the latest addition to the Oxenhope Sue Ryder hospice's series of fundraisers.

The duathlon event – on Easter Sunday, April 1 – will feature two five-kilometre runs, separated by a 20km bike ride.

All finishers will receive a medal, plus a hot cross bun!

The event is the brainchild of Keighley Leisure Centre manager, Simon Turner.

"There is nothing quite like this around these parts," he said.

"We hope it will be well supported and something that can become an annual event, raising funds for a great cause."

The run sections will see participants set off from Keighley's Victoria Park and head, via the Airedale Greenway, to the newly-restored grounds of Cliffe Castle Museum. They will complete a loop before making the return leg.

The bike ride will take entrants from a transition zone to the Worth Valley.

There they will tackle iconic Haworth Main Street and the upper stretch of Penistone Hill, before passing the entrance of Manorlands and returning to Victoria Park.

The transition zone will be located in an enclosed multi-use games area for enhanced security.

The event – which starts at 9am – is being supported by Bradford Council and British Triathlon, and will be chip timed.

Andrew Wood, community fundraising manager at Manorlands, said he was hugely excited about the duathlon.

He added: "We know that a large number of our supporters like running and cycling, so we're hoping there's a good proportion who like both.

"There is also an option to team-up and do a relay, with one member doing the runs and one the rides."

For more details and to sign-up, visit sueryder.org/hotcrossbun.

The duathlon adds to an already impressive programme of separate fundraising cycling and running events staged by Manorlands and its supporters.

All services at Manorlands are free to patients and their loved ones, but it costs £9,000 a day to keep the hospice doors open.

Only a small part of the cost is covered by statutory funds.

Most of the funds have to be raised through voluntary donations.

Manorlands supports patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families at the hospice and in the community, across an area covering Craven, Airedale and Wharfedale as well as parts of Bradford.

In the past year its community nurse specialists provided over 2,700 home visits, nearly 200 people attended the day therapy unit and Manorlands' bereavement team received more than 1,380 phone calls.