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

The 52-year-old Chipping Norton School assistant headteacher and her two daughters Louise, 20, and Hannah, 18, joined 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 my daughters and I 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 JR 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.

"I am on my own with the girls and 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."

Ms Ashdown's chemotherapy was successful, but doctors told her she still had inactive cancer cells.

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, 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.

"It was deeply moving to take part. We wore T-shirts Hannah had embroidered.

"We raised around £800, which was fabulous. This year we'd like to raise as much as that again."

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.

Every pound raised by Race for Life in Oxfordshire goes directly to research carried out here in the county. To enter Race for Life 2008, visit www.raceforlife.org.uk or call 0871 641 2273.

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.

This year, there will be three Race for Life events in Oxford, taking place in 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 one at Heythrop Park, near Chipping Norton, on Sunday, June 22, at 11am.

Vikki Savery, area event manager for Race for Life, said: "We hope this is an invitation women can't refuse."

The Oxford Mail wants to speak to cancer sufferers and survivors taking part in the Race for Life. Call Debbie Waite on 01865 425428.