THE clue was in the name, and Winchester women weren’t afraid to get dirty in the name of charity this weekend.

Pretty Muddy saw approximately 1500 women from across the city don their pink t-shirts and waterproofs to brave the five-kilometre course on Saturday, June 7, at Winchester Garrison Ground and University Sports Stadium.

Similar to Race for Life, the course was only open to women, and included crawling, climbing, and muddy obstacles.

It is one of just 19 new events from Cancer Research UK.

Fiona Miller, Cancer Research UK’s South East events manager, said: “Nothing could dampen their spirits - we had such an amazing crowd!

“There was of course the lightening storm, which was added excitement for everyone. I was really worried about how people would find it, and then I came outside to see people rolling around in the mud!”

She added: “The atmosphere was like nothing I have ever experienced before, everybody had such a good time. We couldn’t have asked for it to go any better.”

Every day 120 people across the South East are diagnosed with cancer, and last year’s Race for Life raised an incredible £127,618.

Fiona said: “We keep the Just Giving pages open for a couple of weeks after the event, so we don’t know how much has been raised yet.”

The charity receives no government funding, and with the help of people from the South East they intend to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

Sunday (June 8) saw the fundraising continue, with the 10k and five-kilometre Race for Life events at the same venue.