Mark Maidwell-Smith, 67, finished the Tokyo marathon, fulfilling his ambition of achieving the 6 Star World Marathon Majors award.
This honour is reserved for those who complete marathons in London, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Boston, and Chicago.
A dedicated runner, Mark dreamt of completing the feat but was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022, casting doubt on his ability to achieve it.
Reflecting on his accomplishment, he said: “Honestly, it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.
“Running is something I’ve always loved and while I’ve proved to myself that I can do it whilst living with prostate cancer, I do wish I’d got checked sooner.”
The university dental clinic teacher is now using his experience to motivate men to get checked for the condition.
He said: “As well as promoting to the public, I’m a dentist and teach at the University of Plymouth’s dental clinic in Truro and I am really keen to share with students the value of work/life balance.
“It’s easy to think that you can just keep going but your health is the most important thing in the world.
“You need to look after yourself.
“I really didn’t know if I’d get through the Tokyo marathon, so I’d say it’s my proudest achievement to date.
“But if just one person reads or hears about my story and gets checked, that would probably overtake it into first place.”