A WORCESTER man was forced to run in just his socks during the Worcester 10K after a wardrobe mishap.

Harry Church, 21, was one of the thousands that competed in Worcester City Runs races across the weekend.

But unlike many, he ran over half of the 10k in odd shoes before ditching the trainers to run in just his socks.

In haste, Mr Smith grabbed a mismatched pair of shoes but decided to continue with the run anyway.

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He said: "I was in a bit of a rush on the day to get to the event so without really thinking about it I grabbed an odd pair of shoes.

"It was too late to do anything about it so I decided to run with them regardless and was able to manage pretty well for about 6k.

"However, it did get to the stage where my knees were just in excruciating pain because the shoes were different sizes and heights.

"In the end, I had no choice but to remove the shoes but I did not want to let this stop me from finishing so I popped them on my hands and kept on going for the last 4k."

During the event, Mr Smith said that his lack of shoes caught the attention of people watching from the roadside as well as his fellow runners.

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He said: "I did turn a fair few heads during the run. A lot of people were asking if I was okay and some were even trying to take selfies with me during the run which was funny.

"This is not my first Worcester 10k so it was good to take part again.

"I am not a major runner but I do the park run on a Saturday every week.

"I usually just put some music on and go for it."

Despite the challenging conditions, he was able to finish with an impressive time of 57 minutes and 59 seconds.

The Worcester City Runs consisted of the ninth Worcester City 10k and Junior Run, and Paula’s Families on Track, a family relay event with running legend Paula Radcliffe, took place on Saturday at Pitchcroft.

About 4,000 runners took part in races across the weekend.