England's strongest man gives support to Cotswold Midnight Walk (From Gazette Series)

England's strongest man gives support to Cotswold Midnight Walk

12:43pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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ENGLAND'S strongest man Laurence Shahlaei is throwing his weight - all 145kg - behind the Cotswold Midnight Walk.

The 10-mile women-only walk will be held on June 25 in Cirencester and in Gloucester on September 3. The events raise money for Cotswold Care Hospice.

Laurence, who is the ninth strongest man in the world, is appealing to men to volunteer as marshals and helpers on the night.

"All the women taking part will be wives, daughters, mothers, partners – and we blokes should do all we can to support their efforts. After all they are walking 10 miles to raise money.

"The least we men can do is volunteer for a couple of hours,” said Laurence, who grew up in Cheltenham.

Last year more than 1,800 women took part in the Cotswold Midnight Walk – raising more than £150,000. It costs £4,750 a day to run the hospice in Minchinhampton. All of its services are provided free of charge.

The charity receives less than 10 per cent of its funding from the Government.

Women must register in advance to take part. If you register before March 31, the early bird fee is £10 – a savings of £2. You can register to take part or to volunteer by logging on to www.fancyagirlsnightout.com Laurence, whose nickname is Big Loz, trains with David Long at the gym at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. He posed by lifting David and his brother Mark.

"It wasn’t very hard," said Laurence, who is 27. "They only weigh about 100kg each. In my last exhibition my dead lift weight was 382.5kg."

He may be England’s strongest man, but Big Loz, who now lives in Stroud, says his greatest achievement is his daughter, who is now 10 months. "She’s beautiful – I just hope she doesn’t grow up to look like her dad!" he said.