Race for Life: 9,500 women to take part (From Witney Gazette)

Race for Life: 9,500 women to take part

7:25am Saturday 16th February 2008 in Witney By Debbie Waite

ANN Ashdown took part in last year's Race for Life just weeks after finishing gruelling cancer treatment.

The 52-year-old assistant headteacher of Chipping Norton School, and her two daughters, Louise, 20 and Hannah, 18, joined other 8,500 women taking part in the county's Race for Life events.

And a year on, they are getting ready to do it again.

Ms Ashdown said: "Taking part in Race for Life so soon after finishing treatment for breast cancer was a very emotional experience, but I am a determined person, and it was so inspiring that myself and my daughters have decided to make it an annual event."

Ms Ashdown, who lives in Witney, was diagnosed with cancer in June 2006, just a week after she went to her GP suffering from swelling in her breast.

She said: "Learning I had cancer was an absolute bombshell. The doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, weren't sure at first what stage my cancer was. I was in school on a Monday morning when they called to tell me I would need my first session of chemotherapy the next day."

She added: "I left it to the last moment to tell them what was happening, because Hannah was in the middle of studying for her GSCEs. They were devastated, but they soon rallied, and along with my close friend Carol Davies, they were a huge support to me through my treatment."

Ms Ashdown's chemo was successful. She said: "I decided to have a full mastectomy, and then I had radiotherapy too. I wanted to make sure I had done all I could to get rid of the cancer."

During a visit to Chipping Norton School during her convalescence, she learned some of her work colleagues were taking part in Race for Life. She said: "I offered to join them to give myself that goal to work towards. And as soon as my daughters learned I'd signed up, they signed up too.

"It was deeply moving to take part. We wore T-shirts Hannah had embroidered, and theirs said they were taking part for me - a cancer survivor.

"Our friends were so supportive that we raised about £800. And this year, we'd like to raise as much as that again."

Ms Ashdown hopes to have beaten cancer for good.

She said: "I would encourage as many people as possible to take part in Race for Life. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with cancer myself and talked to people about it, that I realised just how many people's lives are touched by this terrible disease."

* * * Race for Life is the UK's largest women-only fundraising event, where women of all ages come together and walk, jog, or run 5km to raise money to help Cancer Research UK beat cancer.

Many women who take part do so for a personal reason; some women are cancer survivors, like Ann Ashdown, while others take part in memory of or to celebrate the lives of loved ones affected by cancer.

About 9,500 Oxfordshire women will be taking part in Race for Life this summer, aiming to raise £620,000 in sponsorship.

This year, there will be three Race for Life events in Oxford, taking place at the University Parks on Saturday, June 7, at 11am and 2.30pm, plus a further event on Sunday, June 8, at 11am.

There will also be a Race for Life held at Heythrop Park on Sunday, June 22, at 11am.

To enter Race for Life 2008, visit raceforlife.org.uk, or call 0871 641 2273.