888 Run for Ovarian Cancer Research

A woman is lost to ovarian cancer every 8 hours in Australia...

This year I’m setting off on a challenge to run 8km every 8 hours for 8 days this November. That’s 24km a day, more than 4.5 marathons, and almost 200km.

Further than running Sydney to Wollongong and back, or Sydney to Bathurst. 

I’m doing this challenge for my incredible Mum who passed away last February after being diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer at the age of 53 in 2016. Our family misses her endlessly, and I'm doing this to make her proud and raise money for developing an early detection test for Ovarian Cancer.

Ovarian cancer is currently the deadliest female cancer and has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer in Australia. Unlike many other cancers, the rate of survival has only slightly improved in recent decades. This is partly due to the fact that there is no early detection test, meaning that 75% of cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage - Stages 3 and 4. Combined with the aggressive nature of ovarian cancer, the five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with late-stage is 25%. This is lower than the five-year survival rate for all cancers in 1975.

There is currently no way of detecting ovarian cancer in the early stages. If this was possible, the statistics would drastically shift towards a survival rate of 80-90%. With increased awareness and funding for research, this is a possibility.

Donations will go towards the cutting edge Ovarian Cancer Research team at UNSW started by the company Camilla and Marc through their annual campaign “Ovaries. Talk About Them.”

The money will go towards research for developing an early detection test. This would save the lives of 8,000 Australian women over the next decade. Ovarian cancer awareness and funding need to change.

Thank you so much for your donation. If you want to follow my training progress and any updates - follow my Instagram @ juliahammans