Leamington man to take on London Marathon in memory of sister-in-law

Wayne Olorenshaw will be running the London Marathon.

A man from Leamington is running in the London Marathon next month in memory of his sister-in-law.

Wayne Olorenshaw, who is 58 years old, has been taking part in running events since 2006, when he took part in the 10K Regency Run with his wife Claire.

Since then the couple, who live on Kelvin road, have continued to enter 10K runs and worked their way up to half marathons. Wayne then wanted to try a marathon.

He said: “I always wanted to try and run a marathon, but I realised it was going to be difficult at my age and decided to do it once, and do it big, and the most high profile is the London Marathon.

Lucy Hulse, who died April last year, pictured with her husband Sam.

“For four years I entered the ballot, only to lose, but last year I got my place and despite a set back with an injury, I started training on January 1st. Training for the marathon is not easy as the bulk of it takes place during an English winter, but I kept to my programme and we planned for the big day.”

As part of his training, Wayne was set to take part in the Warwick half marathon on April 2 2016 but the week before the run, Claire’s sister Lucy, was admitted to hospital with suspected Pneumonia.

On April 2, the day before the Warwick half marathon, Lucy died and her family later found out that she had lung cancer.

Wayne said: “We were devastated by this terrible news and the whole family was in shock. Claire and the rest of the family decided that Lucy would have wanted me to carry on with the run and despite feeling terrible I ran the half the following day. Two weeks later, the day after Lucy’s funeral, I ran the London Marathon. I finished in five hours, fifty nine minutes and forty seconds.

Wayne Olorenshaw will be running the London Marathon in memory of his sister-in-law Lucy.

“I promised Lucy’s husband, Sam that I would enter the London once more and if I got another ballot place I would run in memory of Lucy and raise money for a charity of his choice.

“In October I received the news that I had another place and the whole family rallied to support me. Sam nominated The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and we have been raising funds to help this wonderful charity. I will be trying my best to beat last years time, and hopefully enjoy the fantastic support from the thousands of people lining the route.

Lucy’s Husband Sam, their three grown up children Jeremy, Nick and Georgie and Wayne and Claire are all taking part in the Liverpool half marathon, which falls on the first anniversary of Lucy’s death. The family will use the run to raise funds for the Roy Castle Foundation.

So far Wayne and his family have raised more than £1,000 and hope to double it over the next few weeks. Claire, who has two horses, has been selling bags of horse manure along Lillington Road and has so far raised £100.

The family are holding a fundraiser at The New Inn on Leam Terrace on Friday, where there will be a band, a raffle and other activities.

The family would like to thank Trefor and Mandy at the New Inn for their support.

To donate to Wayne’s fundraising page click here.