Thousands of women were united in their support of the fight against cancer this weekend.

Swindon's Race for Life, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, brought sufferers, survivors and those touched by the disease together - and everyone had a story to tell.

Sandra Wallace, 53, of Wootton Bassett, who only lost her mother to cancer a week ago last Friday, completed the race with support from her daughter Jennifer, 23.

"We said we'd still do it for her," she said. "There's a lot of brave people out there, some have cancer themselves, and it's nothing to give up a bit of our time to do it."

The family has been touched by cancer many times before so it proved an emotional day.

"Cancer is so much in people's lives these days. This is something for people to do together to give something back," added Sandra.

Denise Ducker, 40, from Malmesbury, said she had entered Race for Life without anyone specific to run for, until one of her friends was diagnosed with leukaemia on Friday.

She said: "I didn't know anyone and felt really lucky, but cancer touches everybody.

"It's really emotional running behind people with messages on their backs. It's then that you realise how lucky you are."

The two events at Lydiard Park saw 2,194 participants on Saturday and 2,332 participants on Sunday.

Alongside the emotion there was also a celebratory atmosphere, with many people dressed in shades of pink and purple, and cowboy hats and fairy costumes galore.

Claire Jordan, 36, of Stratton, was doing the 5km run for the third time with daughters Ellie, eight, and Lydia, three.

They were dressed as pink fairies and were running in their grandfather's memory.

Sue Cook, 51, from Lawn, was running for the fourth time for her dad, who died four years ago, while Tina Hartley, 36, from Grange Park, and Linda Mcleod, 41, from Covingham, were both running for their mums.

Linda said: "I was a bit emotional this morning, but on the whole I found it good when I got here."

Tina added: "Everybody here is actually celebrating - they're doing this for a good cause."

Whether they ran or walked, everyone was raising money for Cancer Research UK. The charity hopes to beat last year's fundraising total of £342,000.

Lucy Pitts, 29, from Cirencester, whose nan has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, raised £300.

She said: "There's not much else I can do, but this is something."

Natasha Russell, from Race For Life, thought the event had once again been massively successful.