Battling Back (Again)

The first question I asked my oncologist wasn’t “How long have I got to live?” It was “Will I still be able to run?” which shows just how important running was in my life. When he said “Once the stress fractures (my runners “groin strain” was actually stress fractures of the pelvis where the cancer had eaten into the bone) have healed, yes and you must but you’ll be a lot slower and find it a lot tougher” you can imagine the sense of relief!

To stay involved with my running club, that I had Co-founded, I bought a hybrid bike so that I could go on runs with them and still be a part of it and a couple of months later I started back jogging very slowly and built back up to running 4 times per week.

The oncologist was of course right. Having your male hormone removed, aka chemical castration, leads to weight gain, muscle loss and loss of bone density. None of those great for runners but I stuck at it.

A year post diagnosis, I ran the London marathon achieving a massive personal worst in my 20th and last marathon but raising £13,000 for Prostate Cancer UK meaning that it’s the marathon I’m most proud of. I’d been plagued by awful cancer treatment induced fatigue throughout the training so just to get to the start line was a challenge but finishing the hottest London marathon on record, whilst having hot sweats and hot flushes, was no mean feat, a marathon completed despite huge adversity.

I went on to complete a 100km ultra marathon and then to run at least 5km per day for 365 straight days amongst other daft challenges.

Fair to say that incurable cancer never stopped me running and was never going to!

Then disaster struck when I tore my medial meniscus cartilage and discovered serious bone wear either side of it. After a minor surgery to try and sort the cartilage out it was obvious that I was going to need a knee replacement. 

After several months of hobbling around and, in the end, being unable to walk more than 200m, the knee got replaced.

Then rehab started and I took it really seriously, doing all the exercises and using some high tech equipment to speed recovery. After 4 months I was allowed to start jogging by the physio. I’d asked the surgeon if I could run after the operation and he told me I shouldn’t because I’d need it replacing again before I died. When I reminded him that I had stage 4 cancer and that wasn’t going to be a problem he just didn’t get my dark humour!

2 minutes jog, two minutes walk x 5 was all I was allowed. Then stepping up the jog section by one minute per week before finally getting back to attempting to jog 5km at parkrun. Times were ridiculously slow. I’d not been able to do weight bearing exercise for 15 months and had totally lost my cardio vascular fitness as well as gaining weight but I was determined to get back to as good a level as I could.

Then disaster struck! A really bad cold just after Christmas wiped me out and then 4 more cold viruses up to June 2025 meant every time I built up I was knocked down again. Every time I tried to run I ran out of breath after 200m and could barely manage 2km of jog/walk. I realised that this just wasn’t right. After running for many years I’d learnt so much about my body that I just knew something was wrong. 

A visit to the GP and it turned out that moving house to Woodlands Drive (there’s a clue in the name) had led to pollen induced asthma and “whilst we’re at it” said the GP “did you know you’ve got a heart murmur?”

The breathing issue was hit hard with high dose steroids, a steroid inhaler and a nasal spray and the heart murmur needed a heart scan but is probably something and nothing, he says with fingers and toes crossed.

Recovering from everything thrown at me in the first half of 2025 has been really tough. There’s been days when I’ve got back from an attempted run that had been awful and said to the boss “Stuff it, that’s me done with running” but I’d still get out and try again within a day or two.

Then a breakthrough, I actually managed to run, very slowly, for 5km without needing any walk breaks. It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty but I did it and then lie and behold managed to do it again a few days later.

I’m hoping that this signals the start of a spell of consistent health with no more setbacks. Cancer never stopped me running and was never going to but the knee surgery and then everything that’s happened this year has really been a battle but, as Chumbawamba said “I get knocked down but I get up again”

I have some targets for the year ahead including building up to 10k, increasing speed a little and joining another running club. Exercise is so vitally important for everyone but there is now overwhelming evidence of the benefit of exercise for cancer patients and I see it as part of my treatment pathway. 

My days of being a decent club runner may be over but I’m not dead yet!