Relay for Life

This year was the first year that I participated in Relay for Life. For those unfamiliar with Relay, it’s a 24 hour event (the idea being that cancer doesn’t sleep) which consists of teams. Each team has fundraisers and sets goals for fund raising for cancer research. During the Relay event, at least one member of each team must be walking on the track at all times (hence the relay part). Teams have their own booths and camping spot – each team sells unique things at their booths with the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

 

The team I joined was also new to Relay for Life. My supervisor’s family created the team in order to honor family members who passed because of the disease or who are current survivors. It was sort of a last minute idea so this year was a learning opportunity. I asked my friend Wendy to join me since I know she’s always up for a challenge. We decided to take the overnight shift since many members of our team have children. We didn’t know until we go to Relay that there were only four of us scheduled for the night shift! That was difficult.

 

Wendy and I would coach each other during our walk and push us to do more. There were beads provided, when you walk around the track once you put a bead on your string. Four beads equals one mile. We’d walk a couple of miles and head back to our booth to sit and relax, get up and do a couple of miles, etc. Being on the track at 2am was quite nice. The luminaries were lit around the track and there weren’t as many people walking as there are during the day. It was also nice to zip up in the sleeping bag to get a few winks of sleep under the stars!

 

The downside to the overnight shift is that we missed many of the activities that are out during the day. We missed many things. Wendy and I plan to do it again next year but we will have to be more prepared. I’d love to be there for the whole 24 hours (we made it about 14 hours).  One thing on our list for next year is a container for coffee for the night!

 

During the night, any time I was on the track I was noticing a guy who seemed to be walking nonstop. I then saw his string of beads – he needed three strings! As the sun rose above the track and all the tents, he started to yell out what mile he was on – the first time I heard him do that he was on mile 34. By the time we left in the morning he was on mile 40. He ended up doing 60 miles total. A fellow walker asked him what his motivation was. “My mother passed away of cancer.” Enough said.

 

It’s amazing how many stories we hear. It seems like there are more and more people diagnosed. According to the Relay website, 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. If each team can help just one person, it’s well worth it. It’s really the smallest thing we can do.