LEGENDARY road runner and fundraiser Blind Dave Heeley is taking part in this year's Black Country Run in Halesowen.

Hundreds of runners and thousands of spectators will descend on Halesowen on Sunday, September 21 and Blind Dave will be among them.

The West Bromwich fundraiser, who entered the record books when he ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, recently announced he will be tackling the gruelling Marathon Des Sables in the Saraha Desert next year.

He said: "I cannot wait to run in Halesowen as the Great Black Country Run is a fantastic event, and it should stand me in good stead for when I tackle the Saraha Desert next year."

Blind Dave will be raising money for JDRF which is trying to find a cure for type one Diabetes after family friend Zoe Sherwood asked him to run in honour of her son Lewis who suffers from the condition.

She said: "Blind Davie fund-raising to find a cure for type one Diabetes, whilst raising awareness in the interim, means everything to us. "It would mean Lewis would be able to have a spontaneous life, free from the worry of diabetic complications and all the planning and restrictions it can cause."

This year's run is the third event, which is organised by the Halesowen and Rowley Regis Rotary Club, and organiser Alan Bowler is delighted to have Blind Dave involved.

He said: "We are over the moon that Dave is going to be running in The Black Country Run in Halesowen as he is an inspiration to people across the world.

"His charity fundraising feats are incredible and I know the charity he is running for this year is very close to his home."

He added: "Following the unprecedented success of the last two years' runs the Rotary Club of Halesowen and Rowley Regis are now planning an even bigger and better fun-filled community event for 2014.

"Apart from having lots of fun on the day, our ultimate aim is to invest the funds raised from the event back into the local community through charitable donations.

"In our first year we managed to raise an amazing total of £6,000 which this Rotary Club was delighted to donate to our three nominated charities."

He added: "In 2013 the event surpassed all of our expectations and proved to be an even greater success raising in excess of £20,000 for charity."

Runners will be able to sign up for either the 5k or 10k runs at the Victorian Fair in Halesowen this Saturday where the Rotarians will have a stand.