Robert Malseed was not defending his Colchester 10km road race title yesterday.

The Colchester-based athlete was instead running in the Inter Area Midlands Championship road event in Birmingham.

The event, organised by Colchester Harriers Athletics Club is expected to attract around 250 runners from Essex and parts of London.

Co-organiser Tom Cudmore said before the run: "The field will consist of local runners from clubs like Colchester Harriers and then you've got the local people doing it for fun, raising money and that sort of thing."

The 10km event, sponsored by Haddocks Hyundai, started at 11am in Sportsway, near Colchester Leisure World.

Cudmore said organisers were hoping for better weather so more runners would enter on the day.

He said: "It has been pretty awful. But good weather does make a difference because a lot of our entries are on the day. If it's sunny, it encourages people to come out."

The course is winding without any big hills. Cudmore added: "It is good for spectators. It is a quite a tight circuit through Riverside and round the park."

The Constable Fun Run will be staged at Stratford St Mary tonight, with children starting at 7.20pm and adults at 7.45pm.

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