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Im dressing as a giant ballsack to run 500km the public always make the same comment

Toby Freeman set up the Robin Cancer Trust in 2012 following the tragic passing of his brother, and he is currently raising funds for the charity in a very unique way

[Toby Freeman, CEO of the Robin Cancer Trust, runs a marathon in a costume depicting a giant pair of testicles]

Toby Freeman is running marathons as a giant pair of testicles(Image: Toby Freeman)

A man in a giant testicle costume is running numerous marathons to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

Toby Freeman set up the Robin Cancer Trust as a heartfelt tribute to his brother, Robin, who devastatingly lost his battle with advanced testicular cancer at just 24 years old in December 2011. In 2025, Toby is on a mission to spread the word about the disease and offer a helping hand to those hit with a diagnosis.

In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Toby opened up about the origins of the Robin Cancer Trust. He said: "Going back to 2011, my brother was diagnosed with a really rare form of testicular cancer.

"And my brother was fit, healthy, active - didn't smoke, barely drank and yet he was diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer. Long, long, long story short, we lost Rob 10months later and we decided that if someone who was as health conscious and fit and active as Rob could be diagnosed, that it could happen to anyone.

"So we really wanted to focus on awareness education and support so that no other family went through what we did basically, so that was the idea for the Robin Cancer Trust. Obviously with these things, you start with family and friends and it's about Rob's story, and people are involved because they love you and they want to support that.

"Then as it's grown over the years, more people have been touched by the mission, by the story, and it's become about everyone else. All the people that we've helped, the community that we've built, all the people out there that we've supported."

This year, the 35-year-old from Colchester has pledged to participate in a series of running challenges, not only to fundraise for the trust but also to engage young people in serious discussions about the importance of cancer screening. And his distinctive running costume has certainly aided him in initiating these conversations.

[Toby holds a photo of his late brother, Robin]

Toby launched his charity after his brother passed away(Image: Toby Freeman)

He added: "I'm a runner, I'm not a runner on this level by any means, you know? I can run and I wanted to do some challenges this year, and then I said if I'm gonna do this I need to lead by example. I'm always talking about raising awareness, reducing embarrassment, saving lives, and I thought the best way to do that is all of our campaigns run through humour, right?

"We think the best way to engage a young audience is to make them laugh. That lowers everyone's barriers and then we can have these really important health conversations. So I thought what would I think would be absolutely hilarious would be running around like a giant ball bag.

"Thankfully my team were on board with this and it's grown into this challenge - this 500 kilometre challenge. I'm trying to do events all over the UK, not just where I'm based. You know, I've done Brighton. I've done London. I'm doing the Hadrian's Wall challenge.

[Toby gives two thumbs up while wearing his custom-made costume]

Toby's costume is unique to say the least(Image: Toby Freeman)

"I'm doing an ultramarathon after that in September. I'm trying to do races all across the UK because this is something we need to get out. Absolutely everywhere. But yeah, the idea just came about was how can we make this as big and bold and silly with a really important message behind it as well?

"And that's been a really cool thing seeing people get that. There's the initial hilarity of, 'What is this person doing? Oh, I actually get why they're doing this.' That's really important, and I think there's a real need for guys especially to have these sorts of conversations."

Speaking about the public's reaction, Toby said that people have responded positively to his unique suit. He added: "People love it. I was lucky enough to run Brighton and London, and not only the running community absolutely love it because I think they respect how hard it is running in the costume, but they get the message as well.

"But the crowds have been unbelievable. People just love it and it's exactly what you said, it's the shock value. It's going from, 'What am I witnessing right now?' to immediately understanding the why. Because you know, it's quite obvious that it's for testicular cancer as well.

[Toby running the London Marathon as a pair of giant testicles, as Big Ben is seen in the background]

Toby ran the London Marathon(Image: Toby Freeman)

"So yeah, you get the cheers on both sides of respect for you doing something silly and challenging, but also why you're doing it, and it's been received so amazingly. The races have all been really great. London and Brighton both supported it. Gave me a platform to talk about it."

Toby's latest endeavour, dubbed the 'My Big Ballsy Challenge', has seen him complete marathons in London and Brighton. Next on his agenda is running the 73-mile Hadrian's Wall between June 12 and June 15.

His efforts so far have raised 15,845 towards his 240,000 target for charity, as well as sparking numerous conversations about testicular cancer with the public. However, this isn't Toby's first unconventional campaign.

In 2019, he launched a pair of prosthetic testicles into space using a hydrogen balloon to mark Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. Two years later, he attempted to break a world record by inviting 250 men to check their testicles simultaneously over Zoom.

In 2022, he also helped display the UK's largest pair of testicles on a prominent Manchester billboard. Reflecting on his past endeavours, Toby said: "Oh, yeah, we've done a fair few things. First one that comes to mind is we sent a pair of balls into space. We called it space balls, the campaign. That was to launch Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. That must have been pre-pandemic.

[Toby smiles in front of his Manchester-based billboard]

Toby has participated in a number of campaigns(Image: Toby Freeman)

"Seems like a long time ago. But yeah, we worked with the company to send a pair of balls into space. There's beautiful shots of like, the world curvature below with a pair of balls dangling above it. So that was really good fun.

"We worked with I Love MCR in Manchester to create the world's biggest pair of balls on a digital billboard, so that was really good fun as well. Again, that was Testicular Cancer Awareness Month and then during the pandemic we brought... it was 250 guys from 25 different countries on five continents on Zoom to all check their balls at the same time.

"So it was an unofficial world record because we couldn't get an official world record for it. But I hold on to that. I say no one else has brought that many people together to check their balls at one time. So that was yeah... we've done lots of things to be honest."

Toby Freeman will run Hadrian's Wall between June 12 and June 15 as part of his Big Ballsy Challenge. You can find out more about his cause and donate on his Give As You Live page here. You can also find out more about the work of the Robin Cancer Trust here.

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