ONE of the toughest endurance races to be held in the North of England will take place this weekend to raise funds for injured service personnel.

Places are still available for the Paras’10 endurance race, a 10-mile cross-country race held at the Infantry Training Centre, in Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire.

The race was revived in 2008 and more than 2,000 runners are expected to take part this year.

The starting gun for the race will be fired by County Durham-born Matt Baker, best known for presenting Countryfile and The One Show.

This year the race will coincide with the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and to mark the occasion, and to recognise a number of Americans who have signed up for the race, a bugler will sound a one minute silence before the event.

The Paras’ 10 is based on part of the famous P Company selection test for the Parachute Regiment - open to individuals and teams of the four, runners can complete the course either in trainers and shorts, or in army issue boots with 35lb backpacks, as would have been required in the original test.

The target time for the run is one hour 50 minutes.

In the last three years entrants in the race have raised more than £250,000 for military charities through sponsorship and this year all proceeds will go to the the Parachute Regiment Charity..

For more information on the race and to enter visit www.paras10.com