YORK’s sports clubs have officially launched this year’s men-only 5k race to raise awareness about prostate cancer.

Representatives from York City Knights and York City FC, along with pantomime dame Berwick Kaler, turned up to show their support for the R U Taking The P? race. The event has so far raised £71,000 and this year hopes to boost that to £100,000. All money raised goes via Yorkshire Cancer Research to the University of York’s Yorkshire Cancer Research laboratory where ground-breaking research is being led by Professor Norman Maitland.

This year’s event is at 9.30am on June 21, at Rowntree Park in York.

Brian Hughes, who set up the race five years ago after his best friend Derek Elliot was diagnosed with prostate cancer, said: “It’s very difficult to get men to go out and talk about these things. That’s the purpose of the race. Because it’s on Father’s Day, we hope that younger people might come and bring their dads. I would like men to start to do something for themselves. They can run, walk or even crawl the three miles but it’s half the battle if you can talk about these things.”

Neil Gulliver, York City Knights Foundation manager, said: “This is something of a problem that men don’t talk enough about it and it’s important to raise the profile of the research. It’s so great to see the whole community, especially the sporting clubs, getting together to support this fantastic event. We are encouraging some of the reserve players and the fans to come down and get involved.”

Danial Parker, community officer for York City, said: “It’s a great initiative for us to be involved in and raise awareness. It’s a topic close to football and it will help greatly if we can pass on the message.”

Berwick Kaler said: “There is nothing to be embarrassed about and lives can be saved if it is diagnosed early. Men are definitely more embarrassed than women and it’s about time that stopped.”