Daphne Keenan may be no stranger to Race for Life - this weekend will be the 12th she's taken part in - but this year she will be leading the pack.

Mrs Keenan, 63, from Waverley Avenue, Kidlington, has been awarded the honour of wearing the number one race vest in Sunday's race at Oxford's University Parks - and she couldn't be prouder.

She said: "I read about Race for Life the same year it started and thought to myself that if it ever came to Oxfordshire I'd take part. I've been doing it ever since, so to find out that Cancer Research UK wanted me to wear the number one vest as a result, made me feel very emotional. I'm so surprised and thrilled."

Retired office worker Mrs Keenan has raised £3,000 for Cancer Research UK through sponsorship, to date. And by her side in many of the annual races have been her sisters Flo Harris, 66, and Olly Butler, 61.

Mrs Keenan said: "We have done it as a trio 10 times. We power walk the 5km course.

"This year though it will be just me and Flo - Olly is on holiday and is disappointed to miss it - but as always we are looking forward to it so much.

"It's always a very emotional event, with people running who have lost loved ones and even ladies who have suffered or are suffering from cancer themselves.

"Everyone cheers everyone else on. There is a great sense of camaraderie.

"Like most people, my sisters and I have all been touched by cancer in some way and we have fun taking part, but we always find ourselves welling up with tears at some point too.

"Maybe wearing the number one vest will mean I should ask my sponsors for double this year!"

The Race for Life started in Battersea, London, in 1994 and is a women-only 5km race.

Oxfordshire is one of the event's top-earning locations and in 2006, a third Oxford race had to be laid on to cope with the huge demand for places.

This year, the first two Oxford Race for Life events take place today and tomorrow, at the University Parks, Oxford.

The third race takes place on Sunday, June 24, around the grounds of Heythrop Park Hotel, near Chipping Norton.

Mrs Keenan and Mrs Harris are among 6,000 women lining up to take part in Oxfordshire's Race for Life events this weekend.

The fundraising target is £641,000, all of which will fund work by Cancer Research UK's Clinical Centre at Oxford's Churchill and John Radcliffe Hospitals.

Oxford Race for Life Organiser, Rosannah Dawood, said: "I'm delighted that so many women will be there with us at the University Parks to join together to try to beat cancer and take part in our One Big Day celebrations.

"This is the biggest weekend of the series and through events held at 16 venues across the UK we are aiming to raise £8m towards our overall target of £60m."