A FATHER-OF-TWO will run the Manchester 10k next week in a bid to support other young parents.

Bolton Harrier Phil Marsden is hoping to use his passion to benefit Home-Start, a charity that aims to help young families in their own homes so children are given the best possible start in life.

The 34-year-old, born in Horwich, is running with fellow Harrier Karl Darcy, while son Ed, aged six, and daughter Holly, aged two, will cheer him down the home straight.

Home-Start Bury has 19 runners lining up for the May 10 race, including Mr Marsden, who now lives in Greenmount, Bury, with wife Katie.

Mr Marsden said: "It is what I do for fun but I've been stressing to people the good cause in Home-Start that I will be supporting.

"My dad is involved with them. They are a great charity and I like the concept of their work.

"I could have run for bigger causes but something local will have a bit more of an impact.

"I'm hoping the kids will be there at the end. They will probably be fed up within five or 10 minutes but we will see."

Mr Marsden, a project manager at Muse Developments in Salford Quays, has run the Manchester 10k once but not since he began running seriously about two years ago.

He has previously run marathons in Manchester and Barcelona, and races all distances between 5k and marathon for the Harriers.

This will be his first run for three months after an injury but he is still targeting a speedy time of 35 minutes to complete the race — with the top professional athletes at the front usually finishing in about 28 minutes.

Home-Start supports families who have a wide range of needs, including social isolation, mental health issues, disability, poverty and debt, poor parenting skills, poor or chaotic housing, substance misuse or domestic abuse.

A spokesman said: "We support families where they need it the most — in their own homes.

"This way we ensure that there are no barriers preventing people from accessing our support.

"This makes us incredibly accessible as barriers to engaging with us are completely removed and it allows extremely effective relationships to be established between family and volunteer."

There are seven Home-Starts working across Greater Manchester, in Bolton, Bury, north Manchester, south Manchester, Oldham, Stockport and Tameside.

Between them they support more than 500 families and 1,700 children.

To support the Home-Start runners visit mydonate.bt.com/events/hsbury10k.