Clare's incredible 72km quest after losing her dad to a 'silent killer'

Father's Day after losing your dad is pretty tough going. For Clare Williams this year will prove particularly harsh.

She only lost her dad Les in February. The family is facing the first of his birthdays this month since his death and then their first Father's Day without him on September 1.

"It's hard because you just can't call them up whenever you want to anymore," the Brisbane woman tells 9honey of her loss.

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"I'm still sort of processing it I guess a little bit because it is quite new."

It was five years ago when Les found out he was sick, having experienced no symptoms.

"He was quite fit and healthy, nothing obviously wrong with him," Claire, 44, says. "The only reason he did go to the doctor is when he turned 75 he needed to get a medical done to keep his license.

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"He was obviously bragging to the doctors that he hadn't been had to go to the doctors for a while so they put them through the full medical and that's when they found the prostate cancer."

That's what's so sinister about prostate cancer, the lack of obvious symptoms meaning later diagnoses and poorer outcomes.

Prostate cancer accounts for nearly 16 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in Australia, according to new data published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The surge in cases to 26,368 per year is equivalent to 72 men diagnosed each day, while nearly 11 men will die from the disease every 24 hours, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia which is trying to raise awareness and promote early detection.

'I'm still learning a lot about it myself," Claire explains.

She remembers receiving a call from her father to tell her the news.

"And so he gave me a call and he had just explained that he wasn't well and that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer, he was going through chemotherapy ... I believe he had 24 rounds in the end, so he had quite a few and the treatment just wasn't responding to his type of cancer."

Les moved in with Clare's older sister for the duration of his treatment and Clare visited as often as she could.

"We went down for his birthday and he had a big 80th. It was pretty much just spending time together and doing lunch and getting caught up," she recalls.

Her parents separated when she was six months old. She recalls staying with her dad "every school holiday."

Les didn't talk about the cancer much during his five-year battle.

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"He was a very private person so he liked to keep it to himself, I guess," she says. "But yeah, he definitely put up a good fight, that's for sure.

"He gave himself the best possible chance," Clare continues. "He definitely tried and he was definitely a fighter.'

In memory of her father, Clare will be participating in The Long Run from September 1, trekking an incredible 72 kilometres to raise funds for prostate cancer research.

She recalls going for runs with her older sister and her dad.

"When we'd go down to visit him, we'd go and do some runs and stuff," she says. "And so that's how I sort of found The Long Run because I wanted to do a run that supported prostate cancer and when I Googled it that's what I came across and so I decided to sign up," she explains.

She is part of a running group, the Caboolture Road Runners, that has given Clare their full support and generously donated to the cause.

"I live in Caboolture, so we're really close to the Glasshouse Mountains and also over at Bridie. So that's basically where I will be doing my runs."

Clare will run in increments until she completes 72 kilometres. She initially set out to raise just $720 but is already well on her way to $2,000.

"I start on the 1st of September, so it'll be for the month of September that I start doing The Long Run. I'm looking forward to it. We've got our little t-shirts that we can wear, so even if someone sees me out on a run and stops me, I can tell them what it's about and why I'm doing it."

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