Women who ran in memory of cancer victims have raised a record-breaking £76,000.

More than 1,700 women from Brighton and East Sussex ran, walked and strolled the 5km course in Stanmer Park on June 25, cheered on by thousands of supporters.

Rachel Palmer, former Argus health reporter, was one of the runners who trained for the Race for Life event in a bid to raise funds and awareness of women's cancers.

Rachel said: "I'm not naturally very fit, but this was a genuine challenge I felt I had to accept.

"The atmosphere was amazing with everybody having their own reasons for running."

Justin Cawthorne, race organiser, was thrilled to have topped last year's total of £58,000.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted with the huge response from the local area in terms of the participation on the day and sponsorship.

"It's such a great cause and being a women-only event, it captures the support of a lot of people who are perhaps affected by cancer or undergoing treatment themselves.

"Next year, we are hoping to keep it at Stanmer Park and we would like to get up to 3,000 people involved and make it a £100,000 event."

Nationwide, the Race for Life raised £5.2 million for charity, with 120,000 women competing in 61 towns and cities.

The money raised goes towards research into cancers that affect women.