Sussex runners were out in force at The Great South Run in Portsmouth yesterday and raising money for charity.

The men's elite race was won by former Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Khalid Skah.

The 34-year-old Moroccan's sprint finish easily accounted for Kenyan rival George Okworo who fell two seconds behind Skah's winning time of 46 minutes 17 seconds over the 10-mile course.

Tanzania's Restituta Joseph led from gun to tape to retain her women's crown in 52 minutes 36 seconds, the fastest time in Great Britain this year.

Runner-up was Latvia's Jelena Prokopchuka in a national record of 53mins 35secs. International triathlete Annie Emmerson from Bath finished third in a personal best 55mins 13secs.

But the biggest cheers were reserved for the fun runners and charity fund-raisers, no more so than Lloyd Moreton, 45, and Rachel Steele, 23.

The Brighton duo slogged their way round the ten-mile course decked out as trees. They were raising funds for the Rockinghorse Appeal, the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children and the Save The Trees charity.

Lloyd said: "The crowd have been brilliant, in the last half mile it was a big help. Now we are bushed.

"The outfits aren't heavy, they are cumbersome. We shed a few leaves on the seafront in the wind. Another guy was meant to run as well, but he dropped out with Elm Disease."

Nine of the ten Cobb family, from Ditchling completed the race. They featured in the The Argus on Saturday and raised £500 for charity.

Daniel, 16, took the honours, but had to pay brother Darren, 27, ten pounds because he narrowly failed to beat him by more than ten minutes.

Former Brighton manager Micky Adams was the most famous face from Sussex competing.

Despite moving to Leicester City last week he still wore a familiar Albion training top.

Adams raised money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the new Filbert Street No.2 finished the course in a highly respectable 80 minutes.

Leicester lost their opening game at Chelsea on Saturday and Adams suggested his new charges could be in need of some more exercise.

Adams said: "There are a lot of organisational things to be addressed at Leicester and fitness is among them. I agreed to do this event three months ago and I'm delighted to be here."

Stephen Wigmore, 39, from Horsham, was one of the earlier runners to cross the finishing line as he left his wife Karen trailing.

Stephen said: "It was hard work, as it was the first time I've done this run but I'd do it again."

The real star of the Wigmore family was 10-year-old daughter Sarah, who completed the two-mile mini course in an impressive 12 minutes. Mum Karen said: "I didn't quite make it in under 80 minutes, next year I might. It looks as though Sarah is the best runner in the family now."

Albion fan Graham Edwards, from Hollingbury, ran in an Albion replica shirt. He finished in a respectable time of 81 minutes and raised £320 for Break Through For Breast Cancer.

He said: "I was looking out for Micky Adams so I could trip him up. He did a great job for the Albion but I'm gutted he has left us."

Fellow supporter Colin Hayward, 30, from Lewes added: "The last two miles were hard. I was chasing after Micky Adams to have a word but I didn't catch him."

Bernard Griffin and Barbara Jefferies (Haywards Heath Harriers) are experienced runners. Bernard, who is a fundraiser for Leukemia Research will run in the Amsterdam Half Marathon later this month and Barbara, ran in the Great North Run recently.

Barbara said: "The start was delayed about 20 minutes due to traffic problems which was disappointing. But I did all right." Bernard added: "This is just the warm up for Amsterdam."