NW Prostate Cancer Support Group Man Running In London Marathon

Bill Banford is a member of the East Lancs Prostate Cancer Support Group. In full support of him, his son Toby is running the London Marathon for the first (and probably only) time in April of this year.  

Toby is attempting to raise £2,012 for the Prostate Cancer charity.  He started training in earnest at the beginning of the month and is now running up to 15 miles.  Toby, who is aiming to complete the marathon in under 3 hours said:

"There is still a long way to go if I am going to sustain the pace for 26 miles". 

He has set up a fundraising website page in which he explains the reasons why he is running and gives us some detail of the illness that is prostate cancer:


“In running the marathon, I am trying to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Charity.  My Dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer three and a half years ago.  To date, this has been controlled without chemotherapy largely as a result of advances in medication brought about by pioneering research.  Although Chemotherapy will be necessary this year, charities like the Prostate Cancer Charity are vital to supporting this research and providing support throughout treatment.”

Toby added:

“Unfortunately, Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men and therefore we are all likely to know somebody affected by this.”

In closing Toby said:

“Most of you are aware that I often tell people I am brilliant at running.  Well the truth is... I am not! 

However, consistent with the theme of over inflating my ability, I have been telling people I can do this in under three hours. This will be my first marathon (and probably last) so I will be training hard for the next 3-4 months to try and reduce the potential for an epic fail!”

As a further fundraising initiative, Toby has written to London underground to arrange a collection outside a tube station nearer the date.  Friends have done this in the past and it really helped them achieve their target so hopefully he will get a spot. Toby’s website appeal page can be accessed here 

If you would like to sponsor him, your donations would be really appreciated!

Source: Cath Quinn / Toby Banfield

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