PHOTO SPECIAL: Hundreds of women enjoy Race for Life events at Burghley House near Stamford

The annual 5k and 10k races took place through the beautiful grounds on Sunday, once again proving popular, but new for this year was the 5k Pretty Muddy assault course, which took place the day before on Saturday.

Numbers were slightly down on normal for Sunday’s event with 1,900 women taking part in total but that’s because they were at Pretty Muddy with 3,582, taking part in the assault course.

The events aim to raise money for Cancer Research UK and it is hoped that in total more than £355,000 will be raised from the Stamford events alone.

The Pretty Muddy event saw dozens of women’s pink tops transformed into a brown mess as they waded through mud and slid down a slippery slide in an effort to show cancer who’s boss.

Heart FM were there supporting both events with Drivetime presenter Gareth cheering Saturday’s muddy runners on and Heart Breakfast’s Kev and Ros showing their support on Sunday.

Dancers from Wildcats Academy were there to start the warm-up for the Pretty Muddy participants while Sonia Cullington, a fitness trainer, led Sunday’s warm-up.

And Heidi Rock, from Bourne, who has cancer herself not only gave an inspirational talk to Sunday’s participants, but she also led a team of 150 women in the event.

Area events manager Gemma Turpin said it was a fantastic weekend for Stamford.

She said: “It was a fabulous weekend! The weather was completely on our side for the whole weekend and I think all the ladies loved taking part in Stamford’s first Pretty Muddy, while our 5k and 10k race on Sunday was still popular.

“We’re aiming to raise £355,600 from Stamford’s events so the message now is for all of the participants to remember to send their sponsorship money back to us as soon as possible, so it can start making a real difference to Cancer Research UK’s work.”

Gemma paid particular thanks to Heidi for sharing her story.

Gemma said: “Heidi really is a huge inspiration. We know everyone has their own stories and reasons for taking part but for her to stand up and share her own story, I think really gave everyone that motivation they needed to get round the course. Burghley is such a beautiful venue but it is quite a challenging course so it wasn’t easy.”

Gemma also thanked all the amazing volunteers, who ensured both events could go-ahead safely.

For those who weren’t able to take part in this weekend’s events, a 5k Race for Life event will take place at Ferry Meadows in Peterborough on Tuesday, July 5, at 7.30pm. Find out more and sign up by going to www.raceforlife.org.