Jeff Stelling on his latest march for Prostate Cancer
I’VE FINISHED a fair few marathon challenges now to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK – it doesn’t get any easier!
I’m a couple of years older, the knees are a couple of years more wrecked, and I’m a touch heavier! This past week we’ve walked four marathons across six days. Starting in the north-east on Monday and finishing at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
Every day is a battle of mind over matter. I’ve been there 33 times so I know what to expect and when it’s going to get hard. I know around 17-18 miles it really starts to hurt.
Ideally you want to be going well at that stage. If you can! On Tuesday morning, I had a really bad spell. I just felt so ill. But I had a banana, some water, a sarnie and a bit of chocolate and turned it around.
You’ve just got to dig in and stay positive – and talk to people! In the first year of this, back in 2016, it was ten marathons in ten days.
I remember the third day from Doncaster to Scunthorpe we had about 17 people walking. On a good day we’d regard 30-40 as a really good turnout. This year, every day was sold out! We more than 250 people across the first three days and over 200 on the final day. It’s amazing how much it has grown. And how much money we’ve been able to raise.
I’ve seen first-hand the impact this disease has had on people. One lad I was walking with on Tuesday has just lost his dad to prostate cancer. His dad was 57.
We all tell the story of our great friend Lloyd Pinder, who died aged 49. His wife Tina has been walking with us.
It shows the reality of the stats we see. Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men. It affects one in eight men, and one in four if you are black. It’s why we’re doing this.
A couple of people on the walks took part for the first time this year. They said, ‘We can’t wait for next year’. I’m thinking, ‘Let’s just recover
from this first!’