MUD was the order of the day when hundreds of women gathered in Worcester for an obstacle race challenge.

The Pretty Muddy 5k race on Saturday was part of a weekend of events at Pitchcroft, the city's racecourse, in aid of Cancer Research UK's Race For Life fundraising drive.

A series of inflatable obstacles, including a giant mud slide, were set up on the racecourse, challenging competitors to overcome them.

And the runners, the vast majority of them wearing the event's distinctive pink t-shirt, had no hesitation in getting into the spirit of the event and becoming thoroughly muddy in the process.

Among the runners were Kay Donaldson and friends, calling themselves Team Sparkle, from Kingswinford in the West Midlands. She said: "We've done the Race for Life before, but not the Pretty Muddy.

"We saw it was on in Worcester and so we decided to come here and give it a go. It's really good fun and we'll definitely be back next year."

Trish Draper, from Redditch, said: "It was really good. I don't know what time I finished in, but that's not really the important thing."

Family and friend came to support the runners, some of them bringing picnics, and all enjoying the friendly atmosphere of the occasion.

Luckily for the runners, the high temperatures of recent days abated somewhat, and the overcast sky meant that conditions were reasonably comfortable for the race.

All the sponsorship money raised by the participants will go towards Cancer Research UK's funding of scientific investigations into some 200 types of cancer and how they can be cured.

Last year the charity spent £386 million on research, funding 4,000 researchers across the full breadth of cancer studies.