Lifelong Trinity pals take on Sir Chris Hoy's 'Tour De 4' cycling challenge after prostate cancer diagnosis
Mark McManus, Ian Hooker and Steven Walker are taking on Sir Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 challenge later this year to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK
A group of lifelong pals from Trinity are taking on a mammoth cycling challenge to raise money for charity after the reality of prostate cancer hit home for the trio.
Steven Walker, Mark McManus and Ian Hooker, all 56, are taking on Sir Chris Hoy’s Tour de 4 challenge later this year, which will see them cycle the challenging ‘Red’ 56-mile route in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.
The trio, who met 47 years ago at Wardie Primary School, were inspired to take part in the challenge and raise money for prostate cancer after they were impacted personally by the condition.
Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer around 20 months ago after undergoing early detection tests.
Best pal Steven said: “At the time he'd started getting up during the night to go to the toilet more than he ever had done in the past and, as people do nowadays, he Googled things, and learned it could be an early symptom of a prostate problem.
“He went to his doctor and they took what's called a PSA reading and it was slightly higher than the average man, so he decided to carry on with the diagnosis and he got scans and it transpired that he had early onset of prostate cancer.
“He was given a couple of different treatment options, you know, he could get an operation to remove his prostate or he could get radiotherapy and he opted for the radiotherapy and medication.”
After undergoing 12 weeks of radiotherapy and medication, Mark was given the all-clear in January.
His cancer journey inspired himself, Steven and Ian to take part in the charity challenge with the hope of raising money for charity and raising awareness of the importance of men getting tested.
Steven said: “I’d seen that Chris Hoy had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago and he launched the Tour de 4 last year.
“I think it just popped up on my Twitter feed a few months ago that it was happening again this September and I thought it'd be quite a good thing for us to get involved in. So I spoke to Manny [Mark] and Hooker [Ian] and said, ‘look, how about this, how about we do that?’
“Manny was quite taken aback that I'd thought about doing something to recognise him. Almost a little nod to him having had cancer and fought it, so he was chuffed that we'd decided to do it.”
He added: “We decided to do it to raise a bit of money for Prostate Cancer UK but also to raise a bit of awareness and back that message coming out of the Tour De 4 race to get yourself, especially men over 45 or 50, checked.”
The challenge that Steven, Mark and Ian will be taking part in will see the friends take on the hardest Tour de 4 challenge, cycling 56 miles from Glasgow through a hilly route in North Lanarkshire and back to the starting position.
It was launched by Olympic hero Sir Chris Hoy, who announced in October 2024 that he had been diagnosed with stage-four terminal prostate cancer.
Steven said: “Chris Hoy, I think he's still the most decorated British Olympian. For somebody like almost a superman, for somebody like that to be struck down with stage four cancer, it just shows you can happen to anybody.”
To date, their fundraiser on GoFundMe has raised more than £1,400, which is just under half of the £3,000 target they are aiming for.
Ahead of their challenge, which will take place on September 6, Steven is optimistic that they will reach their goal of finishing the gruelling 56-mile track.
He said: “The three of us are fairly fit. We've always done exercise, but none of us are mad keen cyclists.
“We've all had bikes for years and years and we go out every now and again, but we're not these cyclists that go out every weekend and cycle 100 miles and stuff.
“It'll be a challenge for us, but I didn't want to do anything that was going to be really easy and straightforward. I wanted to do something that would actually push us and we would have to train for it between now and September.
“We've jumped on board that and we’re all really enthusiastic and looking forward to it.”
Steven added: “From summer holidays mid-July, it's that eight-week period after that six-week period that we'll really have to start cramming into the training and making sure we're spending hours on the saddle.
“We've booked a hotel for Glasgow for Sunday night so we're going to stay through and go out for a few beers to celebrate once we’re done.”