RUNNERS taking part in the sixth Prospect Hospice 10k run got down and dirty when they tackled a new - and at times soggy - course at Stanton Park.

The run, which raises in the region of £20,000 for the charity, attracted 100 athletes of varying ability.

Staged for the first time at the park, it offered different terrains and conditions, although events and community manager Genevieve Arney said the main challenge was mud.

Until this year the course has taken people from the Nationwide Pavilion out over farmland.

“We felt after five years it would nice to move venues and have a bit more variety for people who do it regularly.”

The run always went ahead regardless of rain or snow.

“We have got quite a dedicated team of runners,” she said.

And although it was flatter than the previous course, the run gave athletes with challenges, including slippery conditions and having to pick their way through woodland.

“It is a proper, tough multi-terrain run they are doing. It’s not for the faint-hearted,” Genevieve said.

“We have people who are on their first ruin and we have people that have competed in ultra-marathons.”

Sara Bentley only took up running in January last year.

Her husband Steve, who had cancer, died in 2015. “He was looked after by Prospect,” she said.

A veteran of the Starlight Walk she was using the run to stretch her ability.

Kev Hawkins and his brothers Paul, Steve and Chris were running with friends and family in memory of their dad Alan.

“It was two years ago we lost him,” said Kev. They have already done fundraisers for the hospice but this time, thanks to a new year’s resolution to get fit, they decided to enter the 10k as a team.

Kev started going to the gym with friend Pierre, who had done distance runs in the past, and one thing led to another.

“I’ve never done a run before, there are no charity runners amongst us,” he said, explaining that their usual sport was mountain biking.

Money raised by the event goes towards the running costs of the hospice, which is based at Wroughton and last year supported almost 6,600 people in the Swindon area as patients, carers or family members.

Running cost last year were more than £8m but the charity receives less than 30 per cent of its income from statutory organisations like the NHS. Much of the money it needs is raised by supporters and fundraising events like the 10k and the Starlight Walk.

Visit prospect-hospice.net.