The Long Run launched for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia has launched a new fund-raising campaign called “The Long Run”, which calls on people to run, walk or wheel 72km during September to raise awareness and support men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Each year in Australia more than 20,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, a disease that rocks sufferers and also impacts families and partners of the men grappling will the illness.
3,152 of these men will die, says PCFA, the peak national body for prostate cancer in Australia.
Source: Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia
“The Long Run’s about supporting Australian men,” says PCFA CEO Professor Jeff Dunn
“Without community donations, we simply wouldn’t be able to walk alongside men when this bastard of a disease strikes.”
The PCFA campaign website for The Long Run features some personal stories of prostate cancer survivors.
Ben Jenkins discovered he had prostate cancer at the age of 36. The first test revealed that his PSA was a little high, and after a biopsy, that he had prostate cancer.
He had surgery and has been cancer-free for nine years. “It’s just really important that we keep raising awareness,” says Ben. “There’s just not enough out there.”
Teams and individuals have already started raising money and individual donations can be made on the website to support those taking The Long Run.
There are no fees to register or take part in the initiative. With Covid-19 forcing many Australians inside, The Long Walk is a meaningful way to spend restricted exercise time limits raising money for this men’s health initiative.
The fitness challenge runs from 1-30 September and fund-raising will remain open until 16 October.
All funds will go to Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and will be used to directly support men diagnosed with prostate cancer, to create better awareness of diagnosis and treatment options, and to research ways to minimise the impact of prostate cancer on Australian men and their families.
TAKE ACTION FOR MEN'S HEALTH
Read: Prostate Cancer survivorship in Australia. What do the numbers tell us (PCFA)
Read: Aussie Men Missing the Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer (AMHF)
Download the Prostate Cancer Fact Sheet (AMHF)
Join the Prostate Cancer Survivorship Essentials webcast on September 23