After the World Athletics Championships finished in London on Sunday night, Ipswich now starts gearing up for the Ipswich Twilight Road Races which kick-starts a superb month of sporting action around the county.

Hundreds of runners will pound the streets at the third-annual, sold-out Ipswich Twilight Road Races on Friday, August 18.

The 5k elite race, featuring 200 runners, starts at 7pm, and the 10k mass participation race, with 1,500 entrants challenged to finish before sunset, starts at 7.30pm.

The race starts and ends at Suffolk New College, and people are urged to come out and support runners around the town centre.

The Ipswich Building Society event is organised by Ipswich JAFFA Running Club in association with Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk New College.

Race director Carl Ashton, of Ipswich JAFFA, said: “This year is looking like being the biggest and best so far. The event has grown rapidly from just 800 runners in the first year to now over 1,700. We sold out in June, showing just how popular the event has become. The reputation of the 5k is also growing nationally, attracting more athletes to the town.

“The running community of Ipswich and Suffolk is also growing fast. Many people see running as a great way to get fit, and it can done at low cost.”

Team GB runners Eilish McColgan, WHO RAN IN THE WOMEN’S 5K AT THE WORLD CHAMPS LAST NIGHT, and 800m runner Michael Rimmer will start both races.

Ipswich Star: Team GB's Eilish McColgan, pictured running during the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium, will start the race on Friday. Picture: JONATHAN BRADY/PA WIRETeam GB's Eilish McColgan, pictured running during the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium, will start the race on Friday. Picture: JONATHAN BRADY/PA WIRE (Image: PA Wire)

The event marks the start of a great weekend in the town, with the Ipswich Maritime Festival returning to the waterfront. Live music, fairground rides, historical re-enactments, a firework finale, and more will be on offer from 10am to 10pm on August 19-20.

Just weeks later, the Tour of Britain brings some of the world’s best cyclists to Suffolk on Friday, September 8. It starts in Newmarket, visits Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and dozens of villages, and ends in Aldeburgh.

• See the Suffolk Tour of Britain route map here.

Ipswich then hosts the inaugural Great East Run 2017 on Sunday, September 24, replacing the Ipswich Half Marathon. World-class athletes are expected among the 3,000 runners.

Ipswich Star: The route of the Twilight races around Ipswich town centreThe route of the Twilight races around Ipswich town centre (Image: Archant)

• See the Great East Run 2017 route map here.

Mr Ashton added: “The growth of parkruns in Ipswich and Kesgrave, the very successful Great Run Local at Needham, and the Great East Run demonstrate the growing demand for running in this part of the world.”