A retired neurosurgeon will mark his 80th birthday by tackling Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast in honour of a late colleague and to raise money for cancer research.
Professor Michael Besser will take on a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run, with an eight-hour cut-off to cross the finish line, on Sunday.
The retired neurosurgeon and Brain Cancer Australia (BCA) Chair will take part in the race in memory of his friend and colleague, Professor Richard Scolyer, while aiming to raise $30,000 for BCA.
Mr Besser, who splits his time living between Noosa and Sydney, is no stranger to endurance sports.
He has represented Australia in triathlon, completed 10 Ironman events and competed at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii at the age of 72. He also represented Australia at four Maccabiah Games in Israel between 2005 and 2017.
But, at 80, he expected this to be his toughest event yet.
“I’ve slowed down a lot in the last couple of years and my biggest concern will be finishing within the eight-hour time limit,” he said.
“But, as Richard Scolyer said in his open letter published after his death, he hoped to be remembered as someone who ‘gave it a crack’. That’s exactly what I’m planning to do.”
Professor Scolyer, a world-leading melanoma pathologist and accomplished endurance athlete, died from brain cancer in June.
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Mr Besser first met Mr Scolyer when he was training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the 1990s and followed his remarkable career and contribution to melanoma research.
After his brain cancer diagnosis in 2023, Scolyer continued to advocate for brain cancer research and participate in endurance events when his health allowed.
“That’s what inspired me to sign up for the Ironman. It’s taken on an extra meaning now that he’s gone,” Mr Besser said.
Mr Besser’s motivation is also connected to his career as a leading neurosurgeon. Over more than 40 years, he witnessed extraordinary advances in the treatment of many diseases, but frustratingly little progress for people with brain cancer.
“Towards the end of my clinical career, I’d see patients with other diseases who previously were doomed and now they were surviving,” he said.
“Yet every time a patient with brain cancer walked into my office, my heart would sink because I knew it was going to take their life.”
He believed brain cancer was finally approaching a turning point, with national research infrastructure being established to give researchers and clinicians better access to patient data, tissue samples and systems to run cost-effective trials.
“We’re on the cusp of a revolution in brain cancer. I’m absolutely convinced of that,” he said.
“We just need the investment.”
You can donate to Michael’s fundraising effort here.
