WHEN the starter's pistol goes off to signal the start of the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run in May, among the throng of athletes will be Selkirk's Robert Wood.

And while, along with many of his fellow runners, he is looking forward to the fun element of taking part, Wood, who lives with his wife Wendy in the town's Linglie Road, will also have a much more serious purpose.

Two years ago, aged 58, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, the number one cancer killer in men in the UK.
Now, after life-saving brachytherapy, which costs the NHS £15,000 per person, Wood is recuperating and concentrating on building his health back up.

As part of that effort, he is aiming to raise as much money as possible for both The Prostate Cancer Charity and The Edinburgh Male Cancer Centre, where he was treated, and which is housed at the Western General Hospital.

Wood told TheSouthern: "I had three options – surgery, radiotherapy and brachytherapy – and it was the latter I opted for. But it is very costly, about £15,000, and not yet widely available.

"So I wanted to help raise some cash as a way of both thanking the cancer centre and helping it continue its work."
Wood is a designer with Heather Mills in the town, while wife Wendy runs the Cat's Whiskers cattery at their home.
"I was very grateful to the late Ian Mitchell, from Selkirk, who pointed me towards The Prostate Cancer Charity, which was able to provide lots of information on both the illness and my options," he added.

Although Robert's run round the capital is some months off, Prostate Cancer Awareness Week this year runs from March 19-25, and hopefully publicity from this national event will spur people into donating to Wood's fund-raising efforts.
"Prostate cancer is the number one cancer in men. Nearly 32,000 UK men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and 10,000 will die," Wood added.

"That's more than one an hour. Yet research into prostate cancer is the poor relation when compared to, say, breast cancer in women.

"The staff who treated me at the Western General were absolutely superb, as was cancer nurse Alan McLaren at the Borders General Hospital and my own GP.

"But more needs to be done to raise awareness among men of this disease and more money needs to be raised to keep research going.

"That's why in a couple of months I'll be pounding my way round Edinburgh, hopefully, raising lots of money for a vital cause."
Anyone who would like to donate to Wood's appeal should contact him on 01750 20638 orvisit his website at www.catswhiskers.uwclub.net/robertsrun.html.