Oxfordshire woman attempts record run dressed as ovaries for cancer awareness
Lisa Hale hopes to set a Guinness World Record today in honour of her late mum
An Oxfordshire woman is taking on a half marathon today in a bid to set a Guinness World Record while honouring her late mum.
Lisa Hale, from Drayton near Abingdon, is completing the race in an eye-catching costume as part of her fundraising and awareness efforts around ovarian cancer.
“I am running London Landmarks Half Marathon, attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the fastest female half marathon dressed as a body part,” Lisa said. “And I’m doing it because I lost my mum to ovarian cancer just over two years ago.”
She added: “We have a bit of a history of it in our family and I will be having my ovaries out a couple of weeks afterwards to eliminate my risk of ovarian cancer.”
Lisa is backing Target Ovarian Cancer, which has also supported her personally as she prepares for preventative surgery.
“They’ve got three aims really: one is to raise awareness, one is for early diagnosis and the other one is support,” she said.
She explained why greater public understanding is crucial: “Ovarian cancer is kind of termed as one of the silent killers because the symptoms can easily be missed or misinterpreted as something else.”
Lisa outlined the four main symptoms people can look out for which are bloating, pain between the hip bones, needing to urinate more frequently and always feeling full.
“They can easily be put down as period pains, a urine infection, digestive disorder and so on. So when it is eventually found it’s quite late down the line,” she said.
Alongside raising awareness, she is also encouraging donations to support further progress in detection and treatment.
Despite the light-hearted costume, Lisa says the run will be physically demanding.
“It’s not difficult weight wise, it’s just when the wind gets it you have to keep your balance,” she said. “It does slow you down a lot and it's quite cumbersome so you can't really see."
Lisa will be supported on the course by her brother, who will also help meet Guinness World Record requirements, while friends line the route to cheer her on.
With both her parents having passed away from cancer, and her fiancé and her brother’s fiancé also having battled the disease, Lisa has a deeply personal motivation to complete the challenge.
“My mum will obviously be in my head,” she said. " But it's about raising awareness so people catch symptoms, whatever the cancer is, sooner rather than later, because you was much more likely to have a better outcome."