A man who recently tackled the Brighton Marathon is taking on a second long-distance run this weekend on the first anniversary of his father’s death.

Accountant Martin Roby, 42, battled through the Sussex event with wife Kirsty earlier this month and had been planning to compete in the London Marathon on April 23.

He realised it would also mark one year since his father David lost the fight against bowel cancer and initially doubted whether he should run.

But after mustering up the courage, father-of-four Martin is ready to lace up his running shoes and hit the street in memory of his beloved dad.

“I thought it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to run a marathon on the anniversary of dad’s death,” said Martin.

The Argus: Martin and wife KirstyMartin and wife Kirsty (Image: PA)

“It’s hard enough preparing yourself mentally to run 26.2 miles in the first place, let alone on such an emotional first anniversary.

“But then my mind drifted on to another thought: ‘What if I ran it for dad?’”

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Martin’s dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 but his treatment was successful, and even beat a first bout of bowel cancer in 2015, continuing to live a full and happy life.

But in early 2022, things took a turn for the worse.

“Dad had started to lose weight and didn’t have much of an appetite,” said Martin.

“In the February he admitted he was having trouble swallowing and was suffering stomach pain and was referred for various tests and follow-up procedures.

“In March he was told he had cancer again and told that he may only have a couple of years to live.

“In April he was diagnosed with cancer in several areas including his oesophagus, stomach, lung and abdominal cavity and advised that in fact he was probably looking at more like three months. He died approximately three weeks later.”

Martin, from Kent, will join Prostate Cancer UK’s team of 250 runners at the London Marathon this weekend.

Nicola Tallett, of Prostate Cancer UK, thanked the charity’s fundraisers and said: “Each one of them is doing their bit to fund more ground-breaking research and work towards a screening programme, to catch prostate cancer early and save lives.”