THE legendary Ron Hill MBE will lead hundreds of runners on to Hyndburn’s roads on Sunday in a 10k named in his honour.

The Ron Hill Accrington 10k is open to anyone over the age of 18 and sets off from Accrington Town Hall at 10.30am and ventures up Manchester Road to Baxenden before looping back down the tree-lined, former railway track ‘greenway’ and finishing in the town centre.

Prizes will be awarded to the top-three male and female finishers as well as the winners of the separate age categories.

But Accrington-born Hill, who competed at three Olympic Games and won marathon gold medals at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games, has no doubt a number of the competitors will be out to claim his scalp.

Hill, still going strong at 75, said: “A lot of people when I go to races – and I’m getting near the back nowadays – seem to get a hell of a kick out of saying, ‘I’m going home now, I’ve beat Ron Hill’.

“It doesn’t bother me, I think it’s an honour for people to say that.

“So if you want to beat Ron Hill come along to the Ron Hill Accrington 10k.”

Hill competed at the 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympics and won the marathon at the 1969 European Championships in Athens and at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

He also won the 74th Boston Marathon in 1970 in a course record time of two hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds and held world records at four other distances in his glittering career.

Sunday’s race is named in his honour but it also celebrates the 40th anniversary of Hyndburn Borough Council.

Entry costs £8 for affiliated running club members, £10 for unaffiliated members, or £12 on the day.

There is a race limit of 500.

Charities and good causes locally set to benefit from the race include Finley’s Disney Dream, East Lancashire Hospice and Derian House Children’s Hospice.