THE mystery of why a seemingly unprepared runner was spotted taking part in Newton Aycliffe 10k wearing jeans on Sunday has been solved.

He tagged on the end of the race for a bit of fun - and ended up overtaking many of the field.

Richy Wade, from Darlington, attended the event at the town's Greenfield Community College with his family to take part in the 3k fun run which takes place alongside the main race.

After completing the short course, he decided to watch the 10k runners set off - and got so excited he joined in, even though he had not registered in advance.

He ended up running the route in a highly creditable time of 49 minutes - while wearing jeans and clutching his number from the fun run in his hand.

Mr Wade said: "I did the fun run with my wife and four kids and then ran across to watch the start of the main race with my dad. We're both ex-Newton Aycliffe Running Club runners.

"I got carried away and said 'Dad, I'm gonna tag along'.

"He said 'You can't, you've not done any exercise for weeks'.

"Anyway, I did it in around 49 minutes. My kids couldn't believe it when they saw me running past."

More than 300 runners from around the county took part in the event.