Hi guys! I'm Zara, a 23 year old PhD student within life sciences. Working in research has opened my eyes to the amount of time, effort and resources that are needed to conduct the work and this is a small way for me to help contribute towards cancer research.

I'm taking on Cancer Research UK's Tough 10 - a brand new series of epic 10k runs over some of the UK's toughest terrain. At Margam Country Park, on November 20th 2016, I'll be conquering a 10k course of steep muddy inclines and declines that are normally used for mountain bikers. 

1 in 2 people in the UK born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime with women having the highest lifetime risk of breast, lung and bowel cancers whereas men have the highest lifetime risk of prostate, lung and bowel cancers. According to 2015 statistics it is estimated that there were 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK. With a surprising rise in numbers over the past few years cancer research has never seemed more prominent.