TWO women who spent months training for the Falmouth Half Marathon decided to run the course despite the race being cancelled.

After heavy rain forced organisers to cancel the Cornwall Hospice Care event on Sunday, March 18, Yaina Andrew and Zoey Wright took to the roads regardless.

Yaina, from Penryn, said: "We were running for charity so we asked all those who had donated if they wanted their money back and they said no. We really wanted to do it because of all the effort we'd put into training three times a week, so we did the exact circuit of the race."

The 28 year-old has been friends for 12 years with bodybuilder Zoey, who has had her bowel removed as she suffers from ulcerative colitis.

Yaina raised money for Cornwall Hospice Care, while 26 year-old Zoey, also from Penryn, ran for K9 Crusaders.

Zoey beat her target of 2 hours 20 minutes by 14 minutes, while Yaina was three minutes quicker than her target of 2 hours 30 minutes.

"Zoey has been told that it's the last time she can run that sort of long distance, because her leg muscles would put too much stress on her hips. We're not sure if the race is going to be rescheduled, so we thought that we should run it and keep to our word of giving to charity," said Zaina.