ALMOST 1,200 people put on their running shoes to help raise £35,000 for a Worcester children’s hospice.

A grand total of 1,186 people took part in the sixth Acorns Triple Run at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern yesterday. Runners could choose from three races: a half-marathon, a 5km Spring Run and a 1km Chicken Run.

The format of the event means anyone can enter – from those in wheelchairs who can do the Chicken Run, to more serious runners competing in the half-marathon.

David Strudley, Acorns’ chief executive, said: “There is a nice spread between the serious stuff and the other two races. The Spring Run lets young ones to run together with their families and then this thing which makes the Triple Run unique, the 1km Chicken Run around the showground.

“The Chicken Run allows our children to go round with their carers or mums and dads, which is great.”

This year, 114 people took part in the Chicken Run – a record breaking number – while 370 ran the Spring Run and 702 completed the half-marathon – including 46 members of the US Navy, who had travelled from the south coast to take part.

Stephen Vandergrifft, a Master Chief on the USS George H W Bush, said: “We have a morale worker who finds events for us to participate in, so he arranged for all of us to do the half-marathon.

“We came into Portsmouth the day before yesterday and got a bus up here. Everyone has been very friendly.”

For Mr Strudley support like this has become all the more important in the last year. “This event raises amazing sums of money for Acorns,” he said.

“We have the most difficult fund-raising conditions I have ever seen this year, but we have still raised the £5.5 million it costs to run Acorns. It is very hard – so thank goodness for events like this.”

l To find out more about Acorns and the work they do, visit acorns.org.uk.