THE ORGANISERS of the annual Kirkbymoorside 10K have announced that they will be stepping down from the role after organising the event for the past five years.

Catherine and Rick Eve will help to organise the 2015 event, which is due to be held on Sunday, May 3 alongside a new organising committee before they hand over to them completely.

Catherine said that thanks to the introduction of more runs, including a children's fun run, since the event was set up 15 years ago, it has become an incredibly popular yearly event which is always looked forward to in Ryedale.

She said: "It is a most important event which has been very successful over the years, raising a lot of money for our two local primary schools at Kirkbymoorside and Gillamoor."

Over the years, the number of runners, both novice and experienced has slowly increased to about 750 as they rush to enter the Kids Dash, 4K teen's race, adult fun run and the main event of the 10K race. There is also a mile race on the day.

In a statement, Kirkymoorside Town Council, which contributes £1,000 towards the running costs of the run, said that the annual run had become one of the most popular events in the town.

The statement read: "The Town Council has always supported the event, which is started by the Town Mayor. For the past two years the council has given financial support by awarding a grant towards the cost of traffic management and medical support.

"We understand that a new organising committee is being formed and we look forward to being able to continue our support and contributing to another successful day in 2015."

Entries for the 2015 races are now open and for more information visit kirkbymoorside10k.co.uk