Marathon fun-runner prepares to hang up his trainers as he
competes for last time
Lloyd Moreton, who has run in 125
marathons, including 10 in fancy dress to raise money for
charity, has decided this year’s will be his swansong.
Company Director-Lloyd, aged 52 from Saltdean,
just outside Brighton, has run in costumes including a speaker, a
trainer, a wrist watch and several different types of tree.
The beginning
Lloyd explains how it started: ‘I wanted to
run in a wacky costume because my mother had sat patiently through
five London marathons on the BBC and never seen me once so I
promised her that the next one I ran in she would see me...and she
did. I was really pleased because the following year she developed
Alzheimer’s and now, sadly, doesn’t recognise me at all.
Hard work
‘I’ve run as a wrist watch and a hi-fi speaker
which was definitely the hardest because each one weighed 25 kilos
but we wired them up to play music like 'Chariots of Fire' and 'Is
this the way to Amarillo?' and that helped keep us going.
‘I’ll be running as a tree this year in aid of
St John Ambulance to demonstrate that the charity has
branches in every community and also to recognise the care
work they do in honour of my mother’s condition. I’ve run as a tree
a couple of times because the costumes are easier to run in and the
most fun because of the endless jokes and one-liners.
Bad puns
He continued: ‘I will be sad to leave
my marathon days behind. I’ve had a tree-mendous time over
the years and I’ll never fir-get the support I’ve had from
spectators, friends and family.’
Tara Sherjan, Head of Corporate Fundraising
and Events at St John Ambulance, said: ‘We’re so grateful to Lloyd
for the efforts he’s gone to in order to raise both awareness and
funds for St John Ambulance. We’re sad it’s his last as he’s always
been an entertaining character to watch but we’ll be cheering him
on to help him reach the finish line.’
Over 1500 St John Ambulance volunteers will be
on duty at the event to care for runners who need them. Every year
they treat around 5,000 runners and get through approx 100lbs of
petroleum jelly for alleviating blisters.