I'm Ready To Relay!

In early 2005, my coworker Terri Knoll Johnson passed away after battling breast cancer off-and-on for 14 years. For many years prior to her death, she had been involved with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in her hometown of Baldwin, but I only had a vague knowledge of what the event was about. Soon after her passing, my mom and I participated in the Washburn Relay in Topeka when Mom's neighbor invited us to walk with her team. We really enjoyed the experience and I wanted to become more involved.

After doing a little research, I suggested to the KUEA Social Committee (of which I was a member at the time) that we put together a team in Terri's honor. They all agreed that it was a great idea, and although no one on the committee actually offered to help, I still organized a team of about 12 people to participate in the all night walk-a-thon.

Last year, I didn't want to be team captain again because I had already committed to walk and raise money for The Breast Cancer 3-Day, so I asked if one of the previous year's participants would be our fearless leader. My friend Kerry agreed to be the co-captain, which was nice because it took a little bit of the weight off my shoulders! This year, I asked again for volunteer captains, not necessarily because I didn't want to do it, but just because I didn't want to hog the title if someone else was actually dying to be captain! No one was--big surprise! :)

So during the last couple of weeks I've been recruiting coworkers to participate, and as of today, we have 12 people registered with only 3 more slots to fill! Everyone is really excited about participating again, and we have about 4 new members on our team this year.

If you're not familiar with this event, I'll give you the standard blurb from the RFL website:

Relay For Life is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and programs of your American Cancer Society. During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds, or parks and take turns walking or running laps. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times.

For each team member, the fundraising commitment is only $100 and the walking commitment is an hour or less (although some of those hours do happen to be in the middle of the night), so it's not really that big of a commitment at all. The hardest part is not getting to sleep at all that night, but generally only a couple of us from the team actually stay from dusk until dawn. That part is definitely not a requirement.

One of the most inspirational parts of the Relay, I think, is the Survivor Lap at the end of the opening ceremonies. Last year I walked with my mom and my friend JoAnna who were both in the middle of chemotherapy for breast cancer. There must have been about 100 cancer survivors walking that lap--children as young as five and adults as old as 95. It really puts into perspective how many people have been directly affected by cancer, and makes you all the more determined to continue battling this horrible disease!

Probably the most moving part of the Relay is the Luminaria Ceremony. At about 10:00 at night, thousands of luminary bags decorated in honor or in memory of loved ones who have battled cancer are lit around the track and grounds. It's beautiful and overwhelming at the same time.

The Douglas County Relay is June 8-9 this year, so there's plenty of time to get involved if you're interested! Just go to the RFL website or check out more pictures from 2005 and 2006 to get a better feel for the event. If you're interested in supporting the American Cancer Society through RFL, you can make a donation on our team page or my personal fundraising page, or you can just wait for me to hit you up for money via email in a couple of months! ;)