On the evening of 17th September (the day after I turned 50) I arrived at the Timber Lodge at Lee Valley Park to take ownership of an Inflatable Willy Costume so that I could waddle my way around a 2km course – I mean that is a normal way to spend a Tuesday isn’t it!
This event is organised by Orchid, and charity that raises funds for Male Cancers, hence the costume!
My partner in crime for this event was a last minute replacement but I could not have been more excited to spend an evening in a willy costume with Lorna Heslop! (thanks for the laughs, giggles and for embracing the event!). It was great to see another Backpacker at the event, Nicola Stokes who was running the race with her mum. There were plenty of familiar faces from Runthrough events too.
Aside from trying to run in a penis costume, the biggest battle was getting into the costume in the first place, making it airtight and then waiting for it to inflate.
Soon people walking home from work and cyclists heading through the park where stopping with jaws on the floor at the sight of over 100 willies assembled at a start line ready for the off.
I think Lorna and I laughed for the whole 2 laps. At one point my willy deflated, the fan had fallen apart, I was rummaging around in the balls of the costume to find lost batteries, as Lorna was trying to bend over in a fully inflated costume to pick up remnants of my powerpack which were now distributed across the course. YOU COULDN’T HAVE MADE IT UP!!
Lorna and I had a romantic moment looking out at the lights of the Olympic Park and a lovely marshall captured the moment for us.
We then got a power boost on to zoom past several other willies on our final lap as we made our way to the finish line, where we were rewarded with bling, haribo and water.
Just for the sheer joy of being an adult doing something so daft, I would do this race again. It obviously has a very serious side, however it is great that the charity have created such a great event to raise awareness of male cancer.
So challenge 2 of 50 is complete and the fundraising begins in earnest for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. I have another 48 challenges to complete, so on to challenge 3
If you would like to donate please click here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/heather-lawson-50at50forpcrf
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