THOUSANDS of people were left disappointed after a popular charity run was cancelled at the last minute due to the wet weather.

Around 150 people had showed up in Colchester’s Castle Park on Sunday to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life but were turned away.

Organisers called off the event late on Saturday night because of a water logged course and posted a message on the charity’s Facebook page and informed Heart FM.

However, yesterday participants expressed their frustration at not being contacted directly and there being no message on the charity’s event website.

Dawn Wearmouth, 64, from Great Totham has taken part in the race every year since she suffered from breast cancer five years ago.

She said: “I arrived with my daughter and someone else who was going to take part said it was cancelled.

“It left us feeling very flat. It was such an anti-climax and it’s usually such a marvellous atmosphere and we have a fantastic time.

“We spoke to one of the organisers who told us that on Friday they were looking to re-route the course but I don’t understand why we couldn’t have run round parts that were safe, twice.

“At the very least they could have sent out an email or put something up on their website.

“All in all it’s been very disappointing.”

Event Manager Gill Burgess apologised to participants and said the event has been re-scheduled for September.

She said: “We did everything we could to avoid having to cancel but sadly the weather got the better of us and it would have been unsafe to have people running in these conditions.

“It’s devastating for everybody and I can only offer my sincere apologies to everybody that feels let down.

“I don’t know why the message was not put on the website as this is handled by the central office, but I will be looking into why this didn’t happen.”

She said the race has been re-scheduled for September 30 and all participants will be contacted. Alternatively, they can contact Cancer Research UK on 0871 641 1111.