I am about to undertake a 250km race across the Atacama desert in Chile in support of the SKMRC. By doing this I also hope to raise the awareness of Melanoma as the most significant cancer, by way of numbers and deaths, in people 15 to 40 years of age.

This will be my third race and I will be doing it with 2 sons, Patrick and James, a brother Garry and a friend Bill Biffin.

The first race I did was across the Gobi desert in 2008 and at the end of that race I promised I would never do this type of event again. The race was incredibly hard with nausea, dehydration, cellulitis, severe blisters and psychological torment as the main problems. One thing about an event like that is that it makes the next year seem like a giant holiday.

Despite the promise I had given myself, I still went on to do the 2010 Kimberley race with 3 of my 4 sons. Once again this was 250km but had the unique attribute of being in 50 degree heat and 80% humidity. It was at the 20km mark on day one, with all 3 sons prostate on the ground from the heat and humidity that I thought to myself, "Now I remember why I promised myself I would never do this race again". Most of us finished the race but it had far reaching psychological consequences --- mainly in terms of memory loss.

As a consequent of this memory loss I will be doing the Atacama race next month and I am sure I will be thinking at the 20km mark once again, "Now I know why I promised myself I would never do this type of race again". Then comes a thought that smashes this apart --- the thought of the suffering that Scotty Kirkbride endured in his fight against Melanoma. The pain we are suffering pales into insignificance compared to that suffered by Scotty and his family. This makes it worth it. The thought that we as a team will make a difference to the suffering of other young people in the future is enough to spur us through the agony of the event.

Scotty was a friend and patient of mine and I lived through the years of his treatment until he died in 2004 at the age of 27. Despite all his suffering he remained very positive and focused on his goal. Initially this goal was to overcome the cancer he had, but when this didn't happen he needed to refocus. His goal then became to help create a launching pad to help others in the future who were in a similar situation.

The Scott Kirkbride Melanoma Research Centre (SKMRC) was established 6 years ago and focuses on research into ways of preventing and curing Malignant Melanoma. SKMRC is the melanoma research branch of the Western Australian Institute of Medical Research (WAIMR). Giving a donation to SKMRC will assist in preventing Melanoma deaths in the future for your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and maybe even you!

I am passionate about SKMRC and its direction and any amount of money you can spare to help the cause would be greatly appreciated. There is no amount that is too small and certainly no amount too large to help the cause. All the donations go directly to research and are tax deductible.

The Atacama Race costs of the team are funded by each of the competitors and not from donations to SKMRC.

To make the donation please open the Atacama Crossing page and follow the link to the sponsorship form at the bottom.

Sincerest thanks --- Jamie Prendiville