Walsall Race for Life raises £63,000

Runners took to the start line to kick-off this year's Race for Life 5k run this morning, raising £63,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Taking in the scorching temperatures, families and groups of friends came draped in pink to raise money to battle a disease that has affected so many people across the borough.

As the runners began to filter through into the starting point, members of the Rock Choir from a number of regions including Lichfield, Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield, sang to the crowds.

Then, a member of Cancer Research's team took to the stage to warm the athletes up before they took to the course.

Running with three other members of her family was 19-year-old Megan Wyse from Willenhall, who was taking part in memory of her mother Michelle who passed away in 2017 after a 10-year-long battle with breast cancer, which eventually spread to her brain.

The teenager, who has a tattoo on her forearm of a butterfly and the word 'mum', was running alongside her brothers Adam and Callum, aged 16 and 14, and her father John, aged 47.

She said: "I've always wanted to do it and now to have my dad and brothers with me I've done it for the first time.

"I'm pleased to be able to do this for my mum, but sad that she isn't here to see me do it.

"She would have been so happy to see me doing it, she'd have been so excited and screaming and cheering me on.

"She was a fighter and very courageous, it spurs me on to not give up."

Sally Cowley, aged 24, from Walsall, said: "I lost an aunt to cancer, and it affects so many people.

"It's just a fun and amazing day for a good cause.

"It makes me emotional, we love doing this run and to hopefully help people."

Within the crowds were workers from the Arboretum Nursing Home on Forest Lane, Walsall, who wanted to give back in their fifth run.

Employee Jo Corser, from Leamore, said: "We have done it for five years and it's for so many people who have lost loved ones.

"It's wonderful and I feel like we're giving something back."