Thousands of runners took to the streets and a Guiness World Record was broken at the Worcester City Half Marathon.

The event, which saw runners cheered on by enthusiastic crowds for 13.2 miles around the city centre, took place this morning (Sunday, September 17).

It formed part of Worcester City Runs, a weekend of events that also saw the ninth Worcester City 10k and Junior Run take place today.

Paula’s Families on Track, a family relay event with running legend Paula Radcliffe, took place on Saturday at Pitchcroft.

READ MORE: Paula Radcliffe joins Worcester families for fun run

Around 4,000 runners in total took part in races across the weekend.

That number includes Chris Garrett, who also became the fastest man to run a half marathon dressed as a lumberjack.

He completed the Worcester run in an hour and 42 minutes, beating the previous record by about 13 minutes.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. 

“I’d just like to say thank you to all of the crowd for spurring me on.”

Chris also thanked his support runners, who had to stay with him around the entire course in order to verify his world record attempt.

“Another shout out to Worcester Food Bank, who I’m running for,” he said. “Thank you everybody.”

Runner Ed said: “Do you know what’s brilliant about this race?

"The whole thing really showcases the city centre. Beautiful for visitors - I met some people at the start of the race who’d never been to Worcester and this has sold it to them.

“The support has been fantastic all the way round, especially in the centre - it’s been brilliant.”

Sarah and Dawn added: “We’re training for the Chester Marathon so we’ve done seven miles before the Worcester Half, so this is our long run, and we’re raising money for Primrose Hospice.”