People are being challenged to take on real Gladiators at an hilarious game-show obstacle course in support St Ann’s Hospice in Manchester.

The Gauntlet Games is a series of 5km and 10km game-show style races that will be taken on tour across the UK in 2017.

The event is the world’s only obstacle course with real Gladiators, and will take place in Heaton Park on September 16 for people of all abilities to enjoy.

Runners will get the chance to raise money for the official charity partner, St Ann’s Hospice, an organisation which has been providing care to thousands of patients from Greater Manchester for more than four decades.

Carrie Murphy, events manager at St Ann’s, said: “Our care is provided to patients and their families free of charge, but we have to fundraise £16,000 every day to ensure we can continue to support local people.

“What better way to raise money for St Ann’s than battling more than 20 Gladiators who are armed with inflatables, paint guns and foam?”

The Gauntlet Games was created in 2015 and is the brainchild of Sarah King, who wanted to give people the chance of having real fun while running.

She said: ”I find running quite boring, so I wanted to find a way to make it fun.

“I think everyone would love to take part in game-show obstacle courses and Gladiators was one of my favourites.

“We love seeing people come face-to-face with the friendly Gladiators on our course, in giggles as they take on our huge inflatable, water and foam obstacles.

“This is all about doing something active and healthy, but having great fun doing so. To add to this, about 50% of our runners raise money for hundreds of different charities so they’re doing good whilst getting fit.”

Throughout the course all runners will face obstacles such as  giant foamy slides, bouncing inflatables and wobbly water bridges, not forgetting more than 20 friendly Gladiators.

The grand finale will be the flagship ‘Gauntlet’ – an eight-metre long inflatable runway with three Gladiators to dodge, followed by a jump onto a giant air bag to the finish line.

Anyone wanting to support St Ann’s with their run of the Gauntlet Games can register for a discounted ticket with St Ann’s Hospice by contacting the team at events@sah.org.uk or on 0161 498 3631.