A man who raised more than $110,000 for prostate cancer care has urged men to regularly monitor their own health — and encourage each other to do the same.

Clifford Roberts, the founder and chairman of the Axa XL Man on the Run 5K, admitted he had faced his own challenges with prostate health and learnt first-hand the physical and psychological impacts it could have.

The experience helped him set his new goal for creating a safe space for men to speak up.

Mr Roberts explained: “The irony is, in 2023, I was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate.

“So here I was being an advocate, having no symptoms whatsoever, encouraging men to go and get checked, only to end up having all the symptoms you can have for prostate cancer.”

The 56-year-old added: “Being an advocate, I now live it. I have an enlarged prostate, I will always have an enlarged prostate.

“So that’s why it has become more meaningful to me to ensure that men get checked.”

Mr Roberts was speaking ahead of Man on the Run, which encourages boys and men to raise funds over multiple 5K walks.

The aim is to inspire boys and men to be open up about their wellbeing, particularly around prostate health, and to regularly get checked out.

It also raises funds for the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre’s Equal Access Fund, which helps pay for cancer treatment and assistance. The year goal for this year is $27,000.

Mr Roberts, a police constable who has run the event for 14 years, said he came up with the idea after watching his wife participate in breast cancer walks.

He felt prostate cancer was a good issue to highlight because there were not many awareness campaigns around it, despite the danger it posed and how infrequently men checked for it.

Mr Roberts eventually collaborated with the BCHC, which helped him to get the insurance company Axa and the distributor Butterfield & Vallis on board.

He said the fundraiser helped him learn more about the psychological impact of prostate cancer, such as depression, anxiety, identity crises and suicide.

He added that Black men were genetically the most at risk for prostate cancer, yet were also less likely to visit a doctor.

A 2022 study published by the American Cancer Society Journals found that Black men had the highest levels of prostate cancer in the US, with 183.4 cases appearing in every 100,000 men.

Contributing factors included mistrust from a history of segregation and mistreatment within the healthcare system.

Mr Roberts said the fundraiser encouraged men to check in on their own health by hearing others’ experiences and concerns, all while fostering camaraderie.

He explained: “Collectively, we don’t like to go to the doctor. If something’s wrong, we don’t like to get checked, and if something’s wrong we don’t like to talk to our significant others.”

Mr Roberts added: “I think having this event is about bringing us together and it provides a means of connecting with someone who is going through it.

“You can just sit up and listen to their journey while you’re talking at this event or running at this event and going ‘You know what, maybe I need to go get checked’.”

He said the effort had been well worth it — attendance for the run had gone up from about 100 men in 2012 to 450 today.

He explained: “What that tells me is that they’re not just coming out but they’re talking about it, too.”

Mr Roberts added: “When I’m on the street, I am stopped every day by one male who says ‘I saw you in the media, I saw you at an event and I just want you to know that I’m going through something, so what can I do, where can I go, who can I speak to?’

“So there are men who are talking about it and there are men doing something about it.

“They are actually doing more now than they have ever done in years gone by.”

Despite getting checked regularly, Mr Roberts said he had a cancer scare in 2023 after showing symptoms of prostate cancer, such as lower back pain and trouble urinating, while on a trip to Chile.

After an emergency flight back to Bermuda and a biopsy, he found out he did not have cancer, but had an enlarged prostate.

Mr Roberts said that, since then, he had hoped to get 600 men involved to raise more funds and spread more awareness.

He said: “Having more men, to me, means they’re all talking about not just the event, but they’re talking about ensuring that they’re taking care of themselves today for tomorrow.

“There’ll be more people saying ‘don’t wait, get checked’.”

The Man on the Run race will take place at Warwick Academy on November 8, with the junior 2.2K run taking place at 8.30am and 5K run in three categories starting at 9am.