On May 1st 2010 my husband Rob was diagnosed with prostate cancer, this was a big shock as he is young (ish!) and prides himself on keeping fit and healthy. He had no symptoms at all, and it was picked up at a BUPA Health Screen in Reading. Rob went on to have surgery, and we are blessed so far that he is making a great recovery. We are both runners and had only just completed a 10km race in the April in Windsor.

In August 2010 my darling Father, John Bowring, became unwell, and by September was referred to a specialist to be told he had an aggressive and incurable cancer, which had started at the prostate and made its way to his liver and stomach. He passed away on October 2nd 2010 at 87 years of age. I had run the London Marathon in 1999 with him cheering me on for his charity "Age Concern", but have not tackled anything quite as big since. For anyone who knew my Father, they would know how much he did for others, particularly the elderly, and other charity work. He was an amazing man with a glittering Air Force Career behind him, but a wonderful father who cared deeply for his family - I miss him every day.

The Basingstoke Half Marathon will be the first anniversary of his death - so I will be out there with him cheering me on just like he did in 1999, and I am so lucky my gorgeous husband will be there at the finish to catch me in his arms when I finish. I could have lost them both to this cancer, so this is my way of doing something for Rob and in Dads memory, and to help raise awareness to other men who could be affected.

Update 2nd October - I did it! 2hours and 20 minutes really pleased and just how I planned it...........thank you for all your donations! It was hot and hilly, but it felt great!!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.