Dave and I have always said that one day we’d do an Ironman together. God knows why we wanted to, but we talked about it a lot. Then, last year when we were finally about to convince each other to do it, Dave was diagnosed with Stage 4 appendix cancer.

So, on the 6th of June, I'll be competing in the Ironman Australia in Cairns, Australia,  for both of us. I hope to raise money for Pseudomyxoma Survivor, a brilliant charity that funds research into this rare cancer and offer support to people in Dave’s position.

For those of you who don’t know, an Ironman is a 2mile swim followed by a 120mile bike ride and then after that, they throw in a little marathon to finish. Training has been hard and I'm not one to gush, but Dave's been my inspiration, my motivation to get up and put in the effort, the hard yards...because I know he's doing the same in his fight with cancer.

Since diagnosis he’s been in and out of hospital, had 12 rounds of aggressive chemo, and to top it all off he had a 10-hour operation nicknamed the mother of all surgeries. All of this has happened during Covid as well.

Appendix cancer and Pseudomyxoma are incredibly hard to spot early which means that by the time symptoms arise the cancer has already spread, meaning it’s most often stage 4 at the time of diagnosis. So, for the majority of people with the disease they have to live with it, In some form or another, for the rest of their life. So, all the help and support we can give them is incredibly important.

So please join me in supporting Pseudomyxoma Survivor and hopefully the next time you hear from me, Dave and I will finally be doing an ironman together. This is a team effort after all, which means you can all come along for the ride* and feel a part of it.

Thanks so much

Ben

*and swim. and run.