Thanks given where they are needed
Since I have been running long distances, the thing I have come to love most is a multi-day overseas ultra-marathon.
Typically, they are events of more than 200km over several days, in parts of the world that, as a tourist, I wouldn’t feel brave enough to travel to on my own.
As you read this I will be somewhere in Bhutan having hopefully finished a gruelling 200k race over 35,000ft reaching altitudes of 13,000ft. More about this next week when I have returned.
But for now I wanted to focus on how I managed to get there in the first place.
People often think that running is a solo sport, and it’s true, but to get my foot on the start line of a race like this requires so much more.
Since my diagnosis I’ve had the support of the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Royal Marsden, then there’s Rory and Hayley, my occasional running and fitness coaches/mentors, John, my acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner, Steve, my sports massage support, my amazing wife who just lets me get on with the hours of training and mental torture, and my pharmacist, Arman. They all help make it happen.
We often take our pharmacists for granted so I thought I would share what Arman, together with the incredible team at Nima pharmacy, near my home, have done for me.
Ever since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 they have been sorting out my prescriptions and giving me advice when something happens that I don’t understand, frequently putting my mind at rest.
More recently, with my trip to Bhutan, they have been so helpful as I needed just about every injection under the sun to hopefully keep me well.
To do this race, I have had jabs for typhoid, hepatitis A and B, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, tetanus, a live virus drink for typhoid, plus pills for malaria, altitude sickness and tummy issues. At no time have they been anything other than welcoming, even though they are clearly very busy.
So when you next do something that you enjoy, I hope you remember all those who may have helped you get there in some way, and make the time to say thank you to them.
I have had so many jabs and my pharmacist has been so welcoming