What a birthday present!

Angela Hames romped home an easy first in the Cancer Research UK Race For Life in Maidstone's Mote Park today.

Angela, 27 today, seemed remarkably unfazed as she completed the 5km race ahead of the field of 4,207 runners in a time of 22 minutes 27 seconds.

Angela, who left her mother and sister still running somewhere around the park, announced that as soon as they caught up she was off to the pub to celebrate her birthday.

Angela, from Caves Field, Gravesend, is a regular runner with the Istead and Ifield Harriers. It is the fourth time she has completed the Race For Life and she also ran the last New York Marathon in a time of 4hr 18min.

For the majority of the other runners, it was a slow trot or even a walk to the finish, but all were proud to have done something to help in the fight against cancer.

Even though this was the second Race For Life event at Mote Park within a month, the entry was so huge it still took the runners 11-and-a-half minutes just to pass the start line. Organisers hope the event will have raised £305,000 for Cancer Research.