Scientists and medical staff are hoping to run the length of Hadrian's Wall in aid of charity.
The group, from the Institute of Human Genetics, at the Centre for Life, in Newcastle, will run a 14-hour relay along the wall on Sunday, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.
The run will start at Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria, and finish at Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend - a distance of 84 miles.
Organiser Dr Ann Curtis, head of the institute's diagnostic service, will run the first stage.
She said: "The fact that we are running to support Cancer Research UK will help motivate many of us to keep going on our stage of the run."
Cancer Research UK funds researchers at the Clinical Cancer Genetics Networks, based at the institute.
They are involved in clinical trials to test if remedies such as aspirin or starch can help reduce the risk of cancer developing in people with a hereditary link to the disease.
Professor John Burn, who heads the study, will complete the final stage of the run.
He said: "Every day my colleagues and I work alongside families with a history of cancer and I know from them just how important it is to support Cancer Research UK's work."
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