Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I decided to run the Virgin London Marathon when, in the space of a week, I lost both a colleague and found out my father was suffering from this disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK, and over 40,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. It creeps in slowly and steadily, and most men do not know until it is advanced and treatment options are limited.

It makes me angry. Women are always told to check their breasts, we have mammograms, campaigns with pink ribbons and talk about lumps and bumps with our friends. At least we know what we are looking at...

Men don't talk about their prostates and it's killing them. 

I was the last person I ever thought would be writing a page like this. We all hear the stories about others, we mumble words of sympathy, sometimes give some money and move on. I was as guilty of that as everyone else. Not now.

I have no sob story to lure you in, myself and my sister are grown adults. My dad is over 60 and although we have all given money to good causes, no-one has shaved their heads, jumped out of a plane or run excessive distances in the past. All a bit too much effort that marathon lark right?

However, I love the men in my life; my friends, partners past and present, and my dad. No one deserves this.  I have seen what he has gone through, even just getting a diagnosis. This disease was the last thing he expected and has wreaked havoc on every area of his life. It will either stay with him until he dies, or it will kill him.

The pair currently have an uneasy truce, and I have the frustration so many relatives have. I can't do anything. I am not a doctor and I can't cure his cancer myself. Neither can I just sit here and let it happen to so many others.

Prostate Cancer UK fight to help men survive and have a better quality of life. They give a wealth of information to those taking their first steps into their experience of cancer, provide specialist nurses for support and fund invaluable research into new treatments. Their sole focus is prostate cancer. They do not have the funding of the larger charities, but they stand for men united against cancer and their families. They were there as our first point of contact when my family needed to understand what was going on, as they have been for so many others and will remain so for as long as we need them. 

Running a marathon will be hard, but it is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the strength required to fight cancer, and every step of the way I will remember that. Next April I will wear their vest with pride and hug my dad on the finish line with tears in my eyes, knowing I did, just a little bit, to help.

If you believe in men, in the power of knowledge and sharing, even when it's not pc, it's not comfortable, but could save someone's life. Please think of my 26.2 miles and donate to this fantastic cause.

Thank you for reading this.

Kate

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