Richard Dunwoody's Blog by Richard_Dunwoody

Imagine the shattering blow of being told you have cancer at the age of 31. It is a scary thought. Jockeys live with the threat of danger every day. Broken bones and concussions are almost everyday occurrences. So when Bob Champion, a good friend and one of the fittest men in the weighing room at the time, was diagnosed with testicular cancer, it naturally left him devastated. Testicular cancer was a silent killer back in the last 70s and early 80s. In Bob’s case, there was no pain, no real warning, other than a suspicious swelling which appeared. “I thought it was the result of getting a kick from a horse,” said Bob. “When I was told I had cancer, I was petrified. You only heard about people dying from it in those days.” Bob’s story is one of the most inspiring sporting comebacks in history. Given the choice of just a few months to live or chemotherapy treatment which would give him a 40% chance of survival, he chose the “barbaric” latter option.

“I was sick every day for seven months,” said Bob. “But the thought of riding again – and riding Aldaniti in the Grand National – was the one thing that kept me going.” You probably know the rest of the story. Bob and the fragile-legged Aldaniti, who was almost put down after an injury at Sandown when his regular partner was undergoing chemotherapy, went on to win the 1981 Grand National. Bob has devoted his life to fighting cancer. In the last 30 years he has become one of the nation’s leading charity fundraisers, collecting more than £12million – approximately £400,000 for every fence of the National that Bob and Aldaniti jumped – to fund research at the Bob Champion Cancer Trust at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Fulham. “When I got testicular cancer, the doctors only gave me a 40% chance of living. Now, thanks to our unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital and elsewhere, it’s 95% curable, provided it’s caught early enough.” The emphasis has now shifted towards prostate cancer.

“It used to be that one in every 14 men got prostate cancer and now, thanks to better awareness, it is one in 10. Men need to get checked, especially men over 40. The trouble with men is that if they have a cold, they’re dying. If it’s something more serious, they do nothing.” It is vital that men, particularly over 40 get checked regularly. I have a BUPA check every couple of years and had some fairly comprehensive tests done last autumn. But prostate cancer isn’t as easy to detect, so it is important to have those regular check-ups. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems during sexual intercourse, or erectile dysfunction. Other symptoms can potentially develop during later stages of the disease. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; but there can be more aggressive cases. Commonly, prostate cancer tends to develop in men over the age of 50 and although it is one of the most prevalent types of cancer in men, many never have symptoms, undergo no therapy, and eventually die of other causes.

But it is still a killer. Last year Bob embarked on a 60-day, 10,000-mile journey, visiting all 60 racecourses in Britain. And on April 9, this year, the 30th anniversary of Aldaniti’s triumph, Aintree are hosting a special, one-off race, run in aid of the Bob Champion Cancer Trust. It will be the first race on John Smith’s Grand National day, where I will be working for the BBC. The line-up of jockeys is made up of 10 Grand National-winning riders. The aim is to raise as much money as possible to fight this dreadful disease and you can sponsor individual jockeys at www.bobchampion.org.uk and via JustGiving pages. But remember, get checked. And if you have a husband or boyfriend, nag them into getting regular check-ups.

I’ve had a pretty quiet week and have managed to get a few runs in, as I have been continuing to get things together for our trip to Kabul in a couple of weeks. Regular readers of the blog will know I was there last summer doing a recce for Jonny Bealby’s Wild Frontiers. And yes, it is a little bit like the Wild West, but at the same time I found it a fascinating place. And I hashed for the first time around the streets of Kabul in June; hashing involves going on a run... then rehydrating with the odd beer. The Hash House Harriers (abbreviated to HHH, or referred to simply as Hashing) is an international group of non-competitive running and social clubs (see ppiccie). An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Hash Run, with participants calling themselves Hashers or ‘Drinkers with running problems’. It is usually a very good get-together and I think an excellent way to start running (you don’t really have to drink beer, either).

There are over 1,900 organised hashes around the world and I’m looking forward to my next around the streets of Kabul. Ireland only scraped through their Six Nations rugby international clash with Italy in Rome last Saturday. Watching it with mates in the local was nerve-wracking stuff, and Ireland – who were 8-1 on favourites – needed a late Ronan O’Gara drop goal two minutes from time to win 13-11. It was a very substandard performance, not helped by the 13-5 penalty count against them, most notably at the scrum. Hopefully they will play a lot better against France on Sunday.