'I'm running as a pair of ovaries in mum's memory'

Ethan GudgeSouth of England
News imageBBC Lis Hale has medium length dark hair and glasses. She is wearing a costume that looks like a pair of ovaries, and has 'Target Ovarian Cancer' written on the front. Behind her is a purple wall with 'BBC Radio Oxford' on it in white writing.BBC
Lisa Hale is running a half marathon dressed as a giant pair of ovaries

"I'm going to be dressed in this huge costume because I wanted to do something fun in my mum's memory," says Lisa Hale.

The 49-year-old, from Drayton, Oxfordshire, is getting ready to take on the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April, wearing a rather unique costume.

She will be running the 13.1-mile (21.1km) course around the capital dressed as a pair of ovaries in memory of her mum, who died of ovarian cancer in January 2024.

As well as completing the route, Lisa is also hoping to set a Guinness World Record for the fastest female half marathon run dressed as a body part.

Describing her costume to the BBC, Lisa said: "It's huge, it's pink and it's basically the whole womb.

"It fully encases me from my head to below my knees and then there's just a little hole for my head so I can just see a little bit."

Lisa has jokingly called herself Wonder Wombman, in homage to the Amazonian DC Comics heroine.

'Mum was amazing'

She said her mum had been given 18 months to live when diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2018.

"Mum was amazing really, like everyone's mums are," she said.

"She was tough as an old boot and she lasted - she fought for five, nearly six, years so she was incredible.

"The treatments that she had and the surgery that she had, everyone treating and looking after her was incredible, so we were really lucky to have her for that long."

Lisa said she hopes running in her mother's memory will "do something positive" to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms, which she said can "quite easily be missed".

She is hoping to raise £3,000 for the charity Target Ovarian Cancer, which spreads awareness, funds research and supports those affected by the disease.

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