Wherever I have gone, no matter how far I have travelled and how well I have hidden, escape has been futile.

I have tried to quietly slip away unnoticed on countless occasions but each time a dark, dull looming presence has caught up with me, to remind me escape is futile.

What could this demonic presence possibly be?

The shivering image of me attempting doggy paddle across a freezing lake in Scotland – what else!

Last year I was due to take part in the Great North Swim, in Windermere, but due to there being green stuff floating in the water, it was cancelled.

So on Saturday September 24, I will finally take to the water and attempt the Great Scottish Swim.

The 2km swim in Strathclyde Lock is slightly further and certainly colder than its Cumbrian counterpart and to add further misery I will be taking part in the Preston 10k run the following morning with a wedding party sandwiched between the two events (the latter is not part of the charity challenge).

I am attempting these events in memory of my dad Brian Robinson, to mark five years since his death from pancreatic cancer, at the age of 56.

Advances in the treatment of many cancers have transformed survival rates but for pancreatic cancer, there has been no improvement.

Back in 1970 a mere three per cent of those diagnosed survived for five years and today the figure remains the same.

As we discovered most people do not even last for six months after diagnosis, so we are trying to raise all the cash we can to help vital research projects, which are being funded by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

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