By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
FOR the month of September, it’s a stretch of bliss for sports fans with finals all the fuss.
Or as a time to celebrate all the wonderful fathers out there.
September is also the time to reflect and shine a light on issues that are perhaps too often put on the backburner.
National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month serves as the time to remind people, more specifically men, to get tested and dig deep for the tens of thousands of people diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.
Moe local Linton Blackwell is doing his part once again by completing the Long Run for the entirety of the month, walking a substantial amount of kilometres for 30 days.
Expecting to hit the target of 15km a day, the Baw Baw Prostate Support Group Leader will be walking around the Moe area for three to four hours a day. On each of the four Wednesdays of the month, he will also trek up the Princes Highway to Warragul for a monster six-plus hour trip.
“I’ve started my training walks – about 15km a day. But then you’ve got to do it day after day after day,” he said.
Mr Blackwell is no stranger to this venture, having done the Long Run for five years and in 2022, amassing a total distance of 507km and raising more than $6000.
There are 33 prostate cancer support groups in Victoria, all interlinking (especially regionally).
Nigel McBride travels from Frankston to attend the Latrobe Valley Prostate Support Group meetings held at the Morwell Club on the fourth Wednesday of every month.
“I got introduced to this group by Allan (Cunningham) and asked me to come along, so I did, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since,” he said.
Mr McBride will be running the Melbourne Marathon, and from his knowledge, will be the only participant who is a prostate cancer survivor.
Mr McBride was diagnosed when he was 51-years-old, but due to a rare experience with his doctor, was tested early to detect it.
“A doctor already tested me, which I didn’t realise, in my mid-40s,” he said.
“She ordered me some quotes that could help… and when I was 51 the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels skyrocketed, so she sent me to a specialist, blood tested for a while and the specialist said ‘we’ll wait three or four months, but if it doesn’t go down off you go to get an MRI’.
“So I go on down, MRI shows a lesion, off to get a biopsy and then I got the call at work saying I’ve got cancer.”
Mr McBride is doing this for one reason – to raise awareness.
He has experience in long distance running, completing the Melbourne Marathon in 2021 and a plethora of other marathons and half marathons.
“The last marathon I did was in Brisbane 2022 but my achilles failed and (I got) achilles tendinitis, so I got diagnosed with that two weeks before I got diagnosed with prostate cancer,” Mr McBride said.
Completing his last Melbourne Marathon in a time of four hours and 18 minutes, he said “this time it doesn’t worry me, it’s all about how it’s going to make a change”.
Allan Cunningham is the co-founder of the Latrobe Valley Prostate Support Group, and has championed the region’s largest fundraisers for men with prostate cancer, the Latrobe Valley Biggest Ever Blokes Barbecue.
The local support group is all about offering encouragement and companionship for those doing it most tough during a incredibly painful moment in life.
“Prostate cancer’s one of those tricky ones, how it affects Nigel may affect someone else totally different and the treatments are different,” Mr Cunningham said.
“Sometimes there’s a fair bit of luck involved, (if) you get the right medical attention… it’s totally different even six years ago how they’re treating it.
“It’s a long battle and unfortunately a lot of it could be avoided if men took their tests earlier.”
Ten years ago, the Latrobe Valley had the highest death rate in Australia from prostate cancer. It is now down to as low as seventh, with only one mission – to drive it down further.
To support Mr Blackwell’s initiative, visit: thelongrun.org.au/fundraisers/pamnlingmailcom
For Mr McBride’s run, see: fundraise.pcfa.org.au/fundraisers/nigelmcbride
