MORE than 130 runners have taken part in a run inspired by a famous comic-strip running hero.

Outdoor adventure estate, Camp Hill, near Bedale, hosted its first ever Alf Tupper 10k race recently.

Before the competitors took to the track, the Queen’s Royal Lancers, based at Catterick, were called in to test out the course before the big day.

Making it a regimental competition, the soldiers ran the 10km. As well as confirming the course to be sufficiently challenging, they churned up the muddy paths to make the route even more challenging for the public race day.

Alf Tupper was a post-war comic strip hero; a northern working-class lad who became a fixture in boys’ comics The Victor and The Rover for more than 40 years in his series, Tough of the Track.

The runners were raising money for local Yorkshire charity, the Acorn Committee.

Robert Ropner from the Camp Hill Estate said: “We were delighted that so many people enjoyed taking part in our first cross country race and we hope that next year the event will be even bigger so we can continue to raise money for local charities.

“We are also very pleased that the Queen’s Royal Lancers could come and run the course too - and that they also found it to be challenging and want to make it an annual event for them too.”