Cancer sucks.

There, we've said it. The cold, nasty hard truth is that all of us know someone affected by the evil disease. Statistically, it will affect 40% of humans on the planet during their lifetime. That's a lot of folk. Secretly, you, like many of those in TeamVerrico, may have imagined it only affects the elderly, the obese, the smoker or the genetically challenged. Our experience decrys such misconceptions.

TeamVerrico was conceived during the dark moments following the administration of EC chemotherapy drugs into Anna Verrico in February 2013. Those of you who access this page will know Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2012. Those of you who know Anna will also know how completely unexpected that diagnosis was - a mum of two (a 2 year old and 5 month old at the time) fit as a fiddle, former county sports champion and no vices.

Anna needed a goal, a challenge, a positive end result to fight the dragons of uncertainty that assailed her on her sick bed. That challenge is 13.11 miles in the Isle of Axholme Half Marathon. Anna has not run a half marathon before. Deciding to do one when you can't actually stand upright due to the drugs in your system MAY sound lunacy..but it sure as anything shouts 'Cancer will not win'

Collectively, we have sounded the clarion call to our friends, family and community to support TeamVerrico to raise funds for a very specific project. The attitude of many has been - well - if she can do...I better get on and do it too! One team member, Nick Cranfield has already entered the Paris Marathon in April to set the ball rolling.

Working with Anna's surgeon, Professor Malcolm Reed of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, we want to raise the not inconsiderable amount of £5,000 to sponsor a doctoral student to carry out a 'cure cancer' project.

Malcolm notes "Over the past thirty years the prospects for treatment and survival for women affected by breast cancer have improved dramatically as a result of painstaking research by thousands of teams and individuals throughout the world. This has more than doubled the chances of cure so that 75% of women diagnosed can can confidently expect to be cured of the disease. However there is clearly much to be done to ensure that we reach 1005 success for this increasingly common disease. Researchers at the University have contributed to these improvements with research into new treatments and ways of diagnosing response to treatment as well as research into the challenges faced by long term survivors of the disease as a result of the physical and psychological consequences of the diagnosis and treatments