The Larking Gowen City of Norwich Half Marathon has chosen East Anglian Air Ambulance as its new charity partner ahead of the next year's race on April 7.

Now in its 35th year, the road race attracts a field of 3,000, many of whom step up to the challenge of running 13 miles to raise money for a variety of good causes, with more than £250,000 raised in the last 7 years alone.

East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) operates helicopters from two bases, Norwich and Cambridge, along with several ground response vehicles. Last year the charity undertook 2,725 missions around the region and treated a total of 1,718 patients.

Sophie Emmanuel, community fundraiser at EAAA, says: 'We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as the charity partner for the Norwich Half next year. As a charity we rely on the support of the community to help keep our helicopters in the sky and our doctors and critical care paramedics providing life-saving advanced A&E level care.

'This fantastic event will go a long way to helping us do just that. We would encourage everyone to get involved, take on the challenge, raise money for a local charity - and have lots of fun in the process.'

'East Anglian Air Ambulance do a superb job saving lives across our region,' added Jon Woolston, managing partner at race sponsor Larking Gowen.

'Their work has a huge impact on many families and the community as a whole. We're delighted to have them join the well-established Larking Gowen City of Norwich Half Marathon and look forward to helping raise money for an extremely worthy cause.'

Among several new initiatives, race organisers City of Norwich Athletic Club will be staging several special training events with EAAA personnel, including hands-on CPR instruction, as well as base visits for superhero runners.

'The half marathon and EAAA are a perfect fit,' said incoming race director James Nice.

'In fact most of their air crew and medical staff are pretty handy runners themselves, and a few may even be toeing the start line at Easton next April.'