Dan Jarvis, the former mayor of South Yorkshire and Barnsley MP, is running the marathon on Sunday for the 10th time for Cancer Research UK, and said that he wants to encourage men to see their GP.

“I was in Leeds last week and visited the Cancer Research centre, extraordinary people doing amazing work,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“Yorkshire has got a strong story to tell, in terms of the fight against cancer. But at the same time, we've also got some very significant challenges with regard to the health and well being of our population.”

He said that it is very important to say to people: “If you've got a problem, or there's something that you're worried about, please do get it checked out.”

“There is a part of the psyche of, of blokes, particularly kind of Northern blokes, who will either try and sort of tough it out and hope or think that it will go away, or that they don't want to make a fuss about it, and they just want to kind of get on with it and put their head down.

So I think there is a bit of an innate stubbornness to some, not all, some Northern and Yorkshire blokes. And in the context of cancer, and in the context of people's personal health, that is not the right approach.

“I speak as someone who can't actually recall when I went to your GP. So I know a little bit about the mindset of people who put things off, think it will be alright, believe that they are indestructible, tough it out, hope that it will go away. And that is not not the right approach, particularly for Men of a Certain Age.”

Mr Jarvis said that this 10th run for Cancer Research, his 13th London marathon in total, may also be his last, as he looks back to Yorkshire and the North.

“I’m not sure whether I’ll do it again in the future, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

“I want to try and get off road and return to my true love which is the mountains and the fells.

“It’s an extraordinary event with an amazing atmosphere and the level of support is almost overwhelming and such a festival of good will.

“There will be thousands of people from Yorkshire and quite a lot of people from Barnsley. It’s a wonderful privilege to run it and it’s never an easy experience.

“It’s not an age thing, as my father is running, Mr Jarvis Senior, I love the event but there are some wonderful marathons in our part of the world in Yorkshire and the Peak District and the Lake District.

“There’s a lot of things I still want to do on the hills and fells of Yorkshire.”

Dan Jarvis: Blokes need to stop thinking they are indestructible