You can cover the 5kms in any way you like, writes Marian Pallister. You can walk, skip, jump, or, of course, run the distance, and no-one will be caring much about times. The Race for Life is taking place at 50 UK venues this summer, and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, which organises the events, hopes #1.5m will be raised in sponsorship.

In Scotland, two events have already taken place (at Dumfries and Inverness) and there are six more to go, with the Oban Race for Life taking place this Saturday. In four years the event has raised #300,000 in Scotland for research into women's cancers, and there are high hopes that this year #240,000 will go into the Scottish research coffers.

The value of research can be measured in the very presence of entrants like Margaret Stark and Margaret Goodfellow, who are proof of the advances in cancer treatment. Margaret Goodfellow is 44 and wants to do a 10-minute mile in the Glasgow Race for Life on June 14. On April 20, 1997, she had a mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy, and while she admits that this was ''one of the most scary things in my life'', she rather dismisses the chemotherapy sessions as more of a nuisance than anything: ''After the first two treatments, it kicked in and I didn't like being held back. I do like my exercise and it restricted me.'' She has just had a check-up and is clear of the cancer, so it is a restriction of which she is now forgiving.

Goodfellow had developed the habit of checking her breasts because of a family history of cancer. Six months previously she had had a cyst and was able to differentiate between that and the new lump. She immediately went into action and received enormous support from the medics, as well as from friends, colleagues, and family. ''People said I was very positive. I felt I had a choice - give in or fight, and I fought.''

The ''troops'' she enlisted to help her fight included the support agencies Breast Cancer Care and Tak Tent. She believes her positive attitude, which she spread around the ward at the Western Infirmary and in the Beatson Institute in Glasgow, helped her and those around her. Before all of this happened, Goodfellow ran, did aerobics, rode a mountain bike. She exercised two or three times a day, running in to work, taking in a class, running or biking home. ''Now I'm almost back to doing it again,'' she says. She believes that her level of fitness for her age helped her recovery. Ambitiously, she had intended to run the Britannia Women's 10K, but realistically felt that although she now runs half an hour a day, the 5k Race For Life would be a better option. Her participation in the race is not only to prove to herself she can do it, however. ''I've had so much help over the past year. Now

I want to put something back.''

Margaret Stark's breast cancer was diagnosed in November 1994. She had found a lump, been told it was believed to be benign, but came back from a holiday to celebrate her silver wedding to an operation in Edinburgh which revealed cancer. She had a radical mastectomy which also removed the lymph nodes under the armpit. She praises the surgeon for giving her all the options and understanding her trauma.

Stark chose not to have a reconstruction at the time, but opted for one last year. In the meantime, she had walked her first Race for Life in 1996, and will walk again in the Edinburgh event on June 7. ''I do go to an exercise and fitness class, but I don't run. The last time my friend and I blethered so much we didn't notice we were finished.''

Now over 50 and with two grown-up children, she says: ''I am grateful I am here and the least I can do is raise money for research.''

n For information about the Race For Life in Oban, Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, contact the Imperial Cancer Research Fund hotline on 0990 134 314 or get a leaflet from ICRF shops.