Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My name is Gareth Richards, and starting in March 2016, I will begin the challenge of running over 140 miles in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, culminating with the 2016 Berlin Marathon in September. 

Like many people, my family had a grasp of what cancer was and it's impact, but always saw it as something that would never happen to us or our immediate family. Then, in March 2014, our father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The person that we had seen as fit, healthy, a former service man and in many ways, invincible, was now diagnosed with a life threatening disease. A disease that does not discriminate on race, wealth, religion or health, now targeted our father, and the impacts of cancer became all too real within our family. Burying our heads in every available article online, we became even more worried with some of the stories that we encountered. However, once we sat down with the Prostate Cancer UK team and website, the wealth of information and the knowledge base helped to reassure us that there may be a positive outcome.

Fortunately, the care, support and medical attention my father received has led to a successful operation to remove his prostate in June 2014, without the cancer having spread. Within weeks, the tense, worrisome atmosphere had gone, replaced by optimism, appreciation and hope. We are aware that my father has been lucky, and that not everyone diagnosed with prostate cancer will be as fortunate. However, the support network and invaluable information that helped us understand what was going on, is available to everyone. That is what Prostate Cancer UK offer, and it is that which we want to support and raise awareness of. Having already mentioned how cancer acts without discrimination, we must have a similar mind set, in that regardless of wealth, race, religion, we must come together to tackle the disease. As Prostate Cancer UK say, men united. Cancer is no longer a death sentence, it is a battle, a battle which we are winning.

The events I will be taking part in are;

IAAF Cardiff Half Marathon
Warwick Half Marathon
Cardiff Bay 5 Mile
Tewksbury Half Marathon
Caerphilly 10K
Swansea Bay Half Marathon
Bath Two Tunnels Half Marathon
Magor 10K
Canterbury Half Marathon
Cardiff 10K
Bristol Half Marathon
BERLIN MARATHON

There will be regular updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube with support from the team at Prostate Cancer UK.

As always, any and all support is hugely appreciated!

For more info on prostate cancer, Prostate Cancer UK and the phenomenal work the charity does, visit http://www.prostatecanceruk.org