Race For Life, the charitable run for Cancer Research, is returning to Pembrokeshire in a new format later this year.

Oakwood Theme Park will be hosting the 3k and 5k runs in the early evening of Wednesday, September 8, with socially distanced measures to keep participants safe.

Money raised will help scientists find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, saving lives as the charity fights back from the impact of the pandemic.

Phil Verbinnen, park director at Oakwood Theme Park, said: “Oakwood Theme Park is thrilled to be able to host Pembrokeshire’s Race For Life event. Cancer Research UK is an amazing charity and we’re always happy to support their fund raising efforts in any way possible. We hope participants enjoy the change of location, offering a new challenge for many returners. Some of our staff will definitely be signing up to the challenge!”

The event is open people to all ages and abilities with the 3k starting at 5:30pm and the 5k starting at 5.45pm.

Every year around 19,300 people are diagnosed with cancer in Wales and one in two people in the UK born after 1960 will get cancer in their lifetime.  

Ruth Amies, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Wales, said: “Race for Life offers the perfect opportunity for people to run, walk or jog and raise money for life-saving research.

“All 400 mass participation Race for Life events across the UK were cancelled last year to protect the country’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic. So this year, more than ever, we need people to enter the Race for Life - for the people we love, for the people we’ve lost and for the one in two of us who will get cancer.”

This year, participants will set off on the Race for Life course either alone or in small, socially-distanced groups. Hand sanitiser will also be provided, with participants encouraged to use it before and after the event.

People can visit raceforlife.org to enter. If any Race for Life events are cancelled, people will be entitled to a refund of their entry fee or can choose to donate the fee to help fund Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work.

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK’s work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been at the heart of the progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

The charity was able to spend around £4 million in Wales last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.