Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury woman to run marathon in memory of husband

When her husband died just days before last year's London Marathon, Laura Morris made a promise - she would take his place and raise money in his name.

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Laura with her running mates

And now, with just days to go before the big day, Laura is on target to complete the race.

Training has been hard over the past few months but Laura, along with other members of #TeamMoz, are determined to do their best.

Laura's husband Paul was intending to run the London Marathon to raise money for several local charities after being diagnosed with terminal oesophageal and liver cancer at the end of 2017.

He wanted to leave a lasting legacy for his young family - Melody and Alexis aged six, Arthur aged three and one-year-old Adelaide.

After smashing his £10,000 target he died on March 31, before he had the chance to complete the race.

Now Laura has picked up the challenge in his memory.

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She said: "Training is still going well, so well that I have even been a for a run whilst on holiday. I’m starting to get really excited about the main event now but I'm not sure I will be so excited on the morning but we will see.

"I’m also pleased with how fundraising is going although I still have a little way to go to hit my target of £1,500 so any last minute donations will be greatly appreciated."

Laura will be running as part of the wider #TeamMoz which was first started by Paul, with members of the team raising money for different charities.

She has chosen for all money raised by herself to be donated to Shrewsbury Town in the Community to enable the group to carry on helping those in Shropshire reach their potential and achieve their goals.

She added: "I’m actually really excited about doing the marathon. Having my family and friends either running with me or just supporting me is truly amazing and if I didn’t have them all with me I wouldn’t be able to do it. The run itself is going to be emotional but I know Paul will be watching over us on the day and getting us round.”

Over the past few months Laura and the other members of #TeamMoz have been organising fundraising events including a ladies night and a homemade craft fair.

To donate to her fundraiser go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=LauraMorris1&pageUrl=4