Adventurous supporters have raised more than £1 million taking part in the charity’s UK adventure racing events Race the Sun and the Three Peaks Challenge. Now a brand new hiking and cycling challenge set in the Yorkshire Dales is in the 2010 events calendar. Three Peaks Bike and Hike will take place on Saturday 15th May 2010 and will test team spirit and stamina as well as cycling and hiking ability. It is certain to become a hugely popular and well-recognised, annual challenge.

The event is set in the spectacular surroundings of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, famous for the “Yorkshire Three Peaks” of Pen y Gent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Teams of four summit the peaks cycling from one to the next both on and off-road. It’s a serious team-building event that is designed to be challenging for dedicated event athletes, whilst at the same time being accessible to anyone who keeps in reasonable physical condition or who doesn’t mind training to get in to shape.

It is expected the course record will be set in the region of 6 hours, but average teams are likely to finish in 8 - 9 hours and those who opt to enjoy the spectacular surroundings at a more leisurely pace may complete the course in 10 or 11 hours. There are awards for teams that finish the event in the fastest times as well as awards for the fastest mixed team (one or more female members), all-female team and the Golden Oldies – the fastest team whose combined ages total 180 years or more. Three Peaks Bike & Hike starts and finishes in the Dales’ village of Ingleton, easily reached from Leeds or Bradford to the South East on the A65, or from the M6 to the West, again along the A65. The total event distance is approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles), broken down into stages.

Money raised by the challenge will help Action Medical Research investigate many serious diseases and conditions affecting thousands of children. It will help the charity try to find ways to prevent life-threatening infections such as meningitis and pneumonia, and to develop new treatments to improve the quality of life for disabled children, and tackle rare and devastating conditions for which there are currently no cures. For further information and to register for a team place contact event organisers Action for Charity at www.actionforcharity.co.uk.