IT was a day to stay warm – and dry.

But more than 300 hardy souls chose to Wrap Up and Run in wet and windy conditions on Southampton Common yesterday.

The fundraisers got completely drenched as they took part in Age UK’s 10k challenge to raise money to help keep Southampton’s elderly warm.

Having survived the mass warm-up without any rainfall there was hope that maybe the runners would escape a soaking but as Hampshire TV gardening queen Charlie Dimmock started the Daily Echo-backed race the heavens opened.

But that didn’t deter the hardy fundraisers, who carried on regardless, cheered on by Charlie and a few banner-waving supporters, who also braved the downpour.

Samantha Cameron, 28, from Southampton, was running with colleagues from Carnival UK. She said: “I don’t think older people get much support these days so it is nice to be raising money to help them.”

This is the first time Southampton has hosted a Wrap Up and Run 10k challenge and is part of a series of runs taking place across the country over the past few weeks.

Money raised will go towards Age UK’s Spread the Warmth campaign, which aims to prevent the thousands of deaths each year by helping to keep older people warm during the winter months.

For many older people the winter months mean misery, poor health, isolation and financial worry but Age UK hopes to change all that with the help of fundraisers.

Charlie said: “It is amazing what Age UK does across the UK but this is very important because it’s raising money to keep people warm in Southampton in the cold weather, which we have at the moment.

“I think these runners are fantastic and to have more than 300 runners is fantastic, especially as the weather is particularly horrible.”