Paddling 1,000 miles for prostate cancer research
Hector and his friend Charlie have raised more than £50,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity by taking part in the Yukon 1000 – a 1,000-mile canoe race from Canada to Alaska.
The two friends, known as 'the Yukon Rangers', took on this gruelling challenge to raise money for prostate cancer research at The Royal Marsden, where Hector’s dad, Hugh, was treated before he sadly died in 2023. The challenge saw 22 teams race along the Yukon River in some of the most isolated and remote landscape in the world, covering 1,000 miles and being totally self-sufficient. Hector and Charlie completed the race in just seven days, coming an impressive third.
“My Dad was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in 2015 and was treated by Professor Nick Van As at The Royal Marsden,” says Hector, a London-based Management Consultant, former Royal Marine, and soon-to-be dad.
“Dad received eight years of treatment, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and he definitely made the most of the extra years he was given. He basically wanted to grab the bull by its horns and just live life fully. He climbed 5,000m Himalayan peaks, sailed the Southern Ocean and cycled up mountains around the world. Bizarrely, having cancer gave him an extra zest for life and he set himself some really remarkable challenges. He was able to do all of that, thanks to The Royal Marsden.”
Raising money for research
“Before he died, he knew that we had got a place on the Yukon 1000, though he did think we were mad. He was the one who suggested we speak to Professor Nick Van As regarding his research fund into metastatic prostate cancer.
"The fund is focused on shorter, more effective treatments with less side effects – which would be amazing. It seemed an absolute no brainer, particularly as Professor Van As treated Dad, and the research will help other men like him in the future.
“It’s been quite special raising money in my dad's name, I’ve had had lots of people reach out from all parts of his life – old friends of his or people who haven't seen him for years.”
Training for the Yukon Challenge
“My friend Charlie has wanted to do the Yukon 1000 since his brother completed it. When he was looking for someone to do it with, he thought of me as I was in the Royal Marines for seven-and-a-half years. I think he thought, ‘you're the sort of person who's stupid enough to enjoy camping and living in the middle of nowhere for a period of time!’ We were really lucky – around 3,000 people applied and only 30 teams got through.
“The training went well – we managed to do a few 100-mile trips down the Thames. You can never really replicate what it’s going to be like, it was all about building stamina.
"One of the other areas of strength that we worked on was being good at the camping. For the race, the rules are you must stop for a minimum of six hours a day. The idea is that your sleep time basically starts as soon as you’ve stopped moving and you need to be back on the river in six hours. So, if you become really efficient at putting a tent up, taking it down and doing bits like filtering water and making your food, then you should stand a good chance of keeping up with some of the better people. Of course, that does mean we only have around four hours sleep a night! But I was so excited for the challenge."
Doing it for dad!
Hector has had an eventful year. “My wife Georgie and I are expecting our first child, and the due date is Dad’s birthday – 27 September,” he says. “He obviously never knew about that, but that does feel special. He was there for our wedding and actually on great form. I keep a photo on the fridge of him dancing on our shoulders, having a great time. It’s been a big year with getting married, and losing him, and the Yukon 1000 and expecting a baby.”
“We also volunteered at The Banham Marsden March this year, which was great but also quite emotional. When you see what's written on people's backs explaining why they’re walking, it's enough to move you to tears. It makes you realise cancer is just indiscriminate and every part of society is affected. You realise how many other people are affected and you don’t feel so isolated.
“This is why fundraising is really important for us. I was so pleased we raised £50,000 – the highest anyone has ever fundraised for this challenge is £20,000, so that’s over double!”
Despite Hector snapping his paddle on day 1, the Yukon Rangers finished the 1,000-mile (1,600km) race in seven days, six hours and 25 minutes, and were the third canoe team to finish.
“The race was a truly brutal test of each team’s physical and mental strength”, says Charlie. “We were one of 22 amazing teams taking part in this unique and epic challenge, and each team pushed themselves to the limit to complete the race. Every team that has completed this race should be incredibly proud and rightly lauded for their efforts. We’re still recovering a week or so later, but with smiles on our faces for finishing the challenge and raising an incredible sum for charity, all thanks to the generous support we have received.”
You can find out more about Hector and Charlie’s challenge on the Yukon Rangers JustGiving page.
Feeling inspired?
If you’re inspired by Hector and Charlie's incredible fundraising and would like to take on a challenge for us, take a look at our fundraising events. Your support could make more life-saving research trials possible.
