YOUNG athletes are gearing up to join an all-inclusive sports event and raise money for a Worcester hospice.

Junior members of the Worcester Athletics Club will be taking part in the 5km (3.1-mile) Spring Fun Run to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice in Worcester, which cares for children with life-limiting illnesses.

One of the members, Mark Hill, said: "It is great because it is a charity which promotes children and it gave us the opportunity to host a half-marathon.

"It is a great opportunity for the youngsters to be involved in a major event."

One of the junior members, Rebekka Hodson, aged 12, from Worcester, said: "I am looking forward to it and I am supporting the children at Acorns."

The Acorns Triple Run 2008 takes place on Sunday, June 22, at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern.

The day features the Malvern half-marathon and the Spring fun run. There is also a unique wheelchair-friendly Chicken Run, open to people with special needs.

Places are still available on all three runs, but anybody wishing to enter must sign up soon, as places are going fast.

For more information and forms, visit www.

acornstriplerun.org.uk or call the Triple Run hotline on 0844 984 0405.