Author Archives: Tony Collier

To Screen or not to screen

I’m very much in favour of screening for prostate cancer, as you’d expect given that I was diagnosed with the incurable variety at age 60 and given a worst-case prognosis of two years. Being told that you’ve got cancer is devastating, being told it was incurable is indescribable. Then finding out that I’d probably hadContinue reading “To Screen or not to screen”

Movement Matters

Cancer patients should be wrapped up in cotton wool, lie on the sofa and wait to die right? Wrong, so very very wrong! Thankfully the days when health care professionals discouraged cancer patients from exercising and their families wrapped them in cotton wool are a thing of the past and many cancer patients are stillContinue reading “Movement Matters”

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 cancerContinue reading “Battling Back (Again)”

Review of 2024 – Palaces and Parliament

It’s great to start by celebrating still being alive at the end of another year given that, in May 2017, I was told I might only live 2 years! 2024 saw me enter my 8th year post diagnosis having survived 7 years and still living well with stage 4 prostate cancer. However, 2024 was plaguedContinue reading “Review of 2024 – Palaces and Parliament”

Review of 2021

Bizarrely my main running achievements/highlights in 2021 didn’t really include much running! We started the year under Covid restrictions meaning that running club activities were stopped and you could only exercise with one other person outside your own household. Despite that our club managed to maintain compliant activities until late March 2021 when the lockdownContinue reading “Review of 2021”

The impact of long term hormone therapy

I wouldn’t wish long term hormone therapy on my worst enemy! There are days where it feels like a punishment for something I may have done in a previous life. Yes, I’m grateful that it’s keeping my cancer at bay for now and yes, the cost is worth it, but it’s also a significant cost.Continue reading “The impact of long term hormone therapy”

Reflections on 2020, another year in running

Who could possibly have imagined what lay in store for 2020 at the start of the year? From my own perspective, 2020 was a year that I thought I might not even see, given my worst case prognosis of 2 years from May 2017, but there I was on 1st January 2020, still running! IContinue reading “Reflections on 2020, another year in running”

Running Into Cancer – Why I Run and a few other stories

As a late starter to running at the age of 45 I soon got addicted to chasing PB’s and getting faster and faster. When I was one of the founding members of Styal Running club in 2006 little did I know where it would take me and what it would cost (a small fortune butContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – Why I Run and a few other stories”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 7 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 3

May 2017 wasn’t kind to the Collier family. I remember vividly, as if it was yesterday, receiving a telephone call from my Brother Peter on Friday 5th May 2017 to tell me that our Sister, Fiona, who had been living with breast cancer for several years, had been told that she had less than 12Continue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 7 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 3”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 6 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 2

After the devastation of injury preventing my dream of finishing Comrades 2015 I was determined to have another go. I had let down my sponsors and The Children’s Adventure Farm who I was fundraising for in 2015 and I had to put that right so planning started for Comrades 2016. I got my entry inContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 6 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 2”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 5 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 1

Following the theme of “It was someone else’s fault” the next phase of my running life was all down to a little old lady that we met on a walking holiday in the Italian Dolomites. For most of the walks we used a car or public transport to get to the start of the walkContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 5 – Marathon to Ultra – Comrades Part 1”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 4 – World Marathon Majors – New York to Tokyo

It was Andy Dooley and my utter envy of his framed 5 star World Marathon Majors certificate and medals that started me out on the quest to run the 5 WMM but, before I ran Boston 2013, Tokyo had been added to the WMM to make it 6 races and not 5. This had threeContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 4 – World Marathon Majors – New York to Tokyo”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 3 – World Marathon Majors – Boston and Bombs

Boston marathon is a truly iconic race. Established in 1897 so it’s one of the oldest road marathons in the world and every marathoner dreams of one day bagging a Boston QT and taking part in this amazing race. My lovely friend Claire had also managed a QT and was on the trail of theContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 3 – World Marathon Majors – Boston and Bombs”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 2 – World Marathon Majors #1 & 2

Every time I said “never again” I really meant it. The training took over your life and I was still co-owner and managing partner of a busy thriving Chartered Accountants practice and working long hours. Despite that I was also completely utterly driven to do my best at everything I took on in life. ThisContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 2 – World Marathon Majors #1 & 2”

Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 1

None of it was my fault! I blame it all on Rachael Charlton, Andy Dooley and a 71 year old lady I met on a walking holiday! After life as an active sportsman playing table tennis to just below county standard and a fair bit of social squash why on earth did I get intoContinue reading “Running Into Cancer – My Running Life – Part 1”

Running into Cancer – The cost of Covid-19

I don’t want this to come across as a whinge and me sounding needy. There are people in far worse positions than I am, like John whose operation to remove a brain tumour has been cancelled and may become inoperable depending on when the NHS are able to reschedule the operation post Covid-19. Then thereContinue reading “Running into Cancer – The cost of Covid-19”

Living with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer, the good bits (as good as it get’s anyway)

I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, incurable and therefore effectively terminal unless there’s a life changing development, in May 2017. I’ve written about all the bad bits of living with stage 4 but it’s important to avoid focussing on those as much as we can and to look at the positives. A diagnosisContinue reading “Living with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer, the good bits (as good as it get’s anyway)”

Living with stage 4 prostate cancer, the bad bits!

I make no apologies for my view that no man should be refused a PSA test if he’s in the high risk groups just because he’s asymptomatic. They tell me I’d had the cancer for 10 years but I’d had no symptoms at all (80% of men with early diagnosis don’t have symptoms). Was IContinue reading “Living with stage 4 prostate cancer, the bad bits!”