Friday, 22nd May, 2009
Personal trainer and former Olympian athlete Snowy Brooks took on a lap on honour to open the Tour Series in Milton Keynes on behalf of The Prostate Cancer Charity, the official and only charity partner of the Tour of Britain.
 
Snowy, 65, who was treated for prostate cancer several-years-ago, cycled 1.5km around the track to highlight the partnership and to help raise awareness of the disease.
 
Snowy, who has trained the likes of Daley Thompson, found out he had prostate cancer when he was 62. He had shown no signs or symptoms of the disease and only went to see his doctor after a fellow athlete died of prostate cancer and he found out more about the disease.
 
He had high PSA levels, which can indicate a problem with the prostate, followed by a biopsy, which confirmed that he had prostate cancer. He opted for keyhole robotic surgery. Doctors commented that they had never seen someone of his age with a six pack. His six-pack made surgery take an extra hour.
 
Due to his high fitness levels, Snowy was back on his exercise bike ten days after his surgery and was back in training after four weeks.
 
He now wants to raise awareness of prostate cancer in other men.
 
Snowy said: “I didn’t know what the prostate was until I found out that I had it. The only reason I went to the doctors is because I knew of several other athletes who had experienced the disease and one who had unfortunately died. I didn’t have any symptoms, I didn’t even know what they were. The Prostate Cancer Charity was a huge support to me when I called their Helpline. They sent me a really useful Tool Kit with all of the information I could possibly need about the disease. I read it from cover to cover, and I’m the guy who’s never read a book in his life! Now I want to support the Charity and help raise awareness of prostate cancer to other men. It was a real honour to start proceedings at Milton Keynes with my ceremonial lap.”
 
Snowy participated in the decathlon for the Barbados Olympic team in 1972 and went on to win bronze and silver medals in World Masters Championships.
 
The Charity is urging others to follow Snowy’s lead and ‘unite by cycling’ to help fight prostate cancer. Featuring a range of cycling events, the Charity’s new initiative Unite ByCycling is focussed around the UK’s premier professional cycling race, The Tour of Britain, and will provide opportunities for amateurs and cyclists of all abilities to enter, all with one goal in mind: to unite people through cycling and raise awareness of prostate cancer. Cyclists, from the hardcore road cyclists to the family on a tandem, will be able to get in the saddle and take on two of the stages of the Tour of Britain at Stoke-on-Trent and London, on Sunday 6 September and Saturday 19 September respectively.

For more information and to register visit Unite Bicycling