AN equal rights campaigner from Ryedale is calling for men to join a charity race - to catch up with women.

John Taylor, 70, from Norton, has been lobbying Cancer Research UK to make the women-only Race for Life event open to men since the death of his daughter from the disease in 2001.

Now the organisation is launching the Run for Moore - a men-only event which pays tribute to the work of the Bobby Moore Foundation, to coincide with the football World Cup and the 40th anniversary of Bobby Moore's England team winning the competition.

It is a male version of the annual 5km Race for Life event, which has been held on Knavesmire, York, and at locations across the UK for the past decade, and raises thousands of pounds for cancer research.

Mr Taylor has cautiously welcomed the new event. "Cancer Research UK has taken a small step in the right direction," he said.

However, he would like to see it match the Race For Life in size. "There are only six Run For Moore events planned, but there are 230 Race for Life events across the country," he said. "Our nearest race will be in Leeds and I would really like to see it come to York, or to Castle Howard, so that we have one in North Yorkshire."

He wants as many men as possible to take part, as the charity has said it will look at holding more of the races next year, depending how well this year's events go.

However, he would still like to see men and women allowed to run together. He added: "When my daughter died, my two younger daughters and other female members of the family ran in memory of my daughter and I was very, very upset when I couldn't participate as a man.

"I think it's so important, particularly for young children, boys grieving for their mothers - it's a way of letting them express some of their emotions with their sisters."

Cancer Research UK spokesperson Nicki Embleton said: "Race For Life will have 750,000 women taking part across the UK. A number of men have indicated they would like to take part in something similar and Cancer Research UK is now in its third year of a series of 10k runs for men and women.

"This year we have Run For Moore. There are lots of ways people can support our charity, male female, young and old. We hope to see Mr Taylor at the event in Leeds."

The Leeds Race For Moore will be held on Sunday, July 2, at 2.30pm at Temple Newsam. For more information visit www.cancerresearchuk.org/runformoore

Updated: 15:52 Wednesday, February 15, 2006