Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Street all hosted the woman-only events on Sunday.

One of the biggest in the country was on the Bristol Downs, where 10,000 competitors ran, jogged or walked around the 5 km course.

In Wiltshire, races were held in Swindon and Salisbury, where up to 2,000 woman took part.

In total, it is thought �17.5m has been raised from 129 races nationwide - with Bristol contributing �600,000.

By taking part in Race for Life, women everywhere will be actively contributing to advances that will save lives Doctor Lesley Walker Cancer Research UK

Among the runners in Bristol was Lynn Starr from Nailsea, who has already battled with cancer.

She said she was running to give something back to charity and appealed to the people of Bristol to support the event.

"Come and sponsor someone - or just make a general donation to the Cancer Research fund," she told BBC Radio Bristol.

Doctor Lesley Walker, director of science information at Cancer Research UK, added: "One in three people in the UK will get cancer at some point in their lifetime and one in four will die from the disease.

"The only thing that will improve these figures is research - by taking part in Race for Life, women everywhere will be actively contributing to advances that will save lives."

The Race for Life event started in 1994 with just 600 women taking part.

It is now Cancer Research UK's biggest fundraising event.