World champion athlete Colin Jackson CBE is calling all men, boys and Dads of all ages to run with him through Hove Park to raise awareness of men’s health and money for four national charities and the Martlet’s Hospice. The run will take place this Sunday (25 June) at Hove Park for the very first time.
Men and boys can choose between a 5km and 10km route around Hove Park. Olympic champion Sally Gunnell and six-time world swimming champion Mark Foster are among the special guests who will be there to cheer on the participants. Mr Jackson is a silver Olympic champion and won European and Commonwealth titles for 110m hurdles.
Initially, Mr Jackson funded the project himself before securing sponsorship from investments and management company, Sanlam.
He was motivated to do this after two of his uncles developed prostate cancer. One uncle sought treatment and survived but the other uncle stayed silent, hoping the symptoms would go away and he sadly died.
Go Dad Run was also inspired by the women’s only Race for Life which raises money to beat cancer.
Prostate Cancer UK is the lead charity partner for the fifth year alongside three new national charity partners: Bowel Cancer UK, Orchid (who work with men who have prostate, penile or testicular cancer) and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) which is dedicated to preventing male suicide. Suicide is now the biggest killer of men under the age of 45. Men can choose to support a different charity personal to them instead.
Go Dad Run began with a small pilot 5K run in Anglesey in 2013 but has grown steadily. This year the team has been hosting an event each month between April and October including this Sunday in Brighton and Hove and in Sunderland, London, Worcester, Cardiff, Norwich and Bristol.
All the registered runners are given a pair of big blue old fashioned Y fronts to pull on over their shorts, a free Puma t-shirt, a big yellow drawstring bag, a timing chip and a medal.
Boys under 10 can run for free, prices range from £11.50 to £21.50 and you have to be 16 to do the 10K run. You can register to run with male family and friends either in advance or on the day here.
