In 1999 my wife Michelle, her brother Adrian and my mother-in-law Margaret lost their father and husband Patrick “Fred” Quirke to prostate cancer at the age of just 55.

I only knew Fred for about two years. I first met him properly in a pub in Kingsbury – and walked in to find him standing at the bar with my uncle! Little did I know they were very good friends and that we all shared many mutual acquaintances. So, although I only knew him for two years, I feel I have known him a lot longer.

So why is this “my” story? Well, I am lucky that my parents are still alive and relatively healthy. They have shared so many important moments with me over the years – from graduations, weddings, births, birthdays, and many, many other family gatherings.

But prostate cancer robs people of these moments as it effects men often at a relatively young age. So over the years I have watched those important moments come and go without Fred with us to share them … and have seen first-hand how it impacts those left behind.

So I am running the 2022 London Marathon for Fred - and all those men who were robbed of so many family moments and the chance to see their family grow.

I am running it for Michelle, Margaret and Adrian – and all those loved ones who have been deprived of sharing family “moments” with husbands, dads and granddads.

But I am also running it for me, and for my children – and all of those people that never got to meet men like Fred and for those, like me, who would have loved to get to know that person more.

Lots of love,

Mark