#86. Participate in Relay for Life

What is it?

Relay for Life is an event that raises money for the American Cancer Society. It is usually held at a track and the goal is to have someone from your team walking for the entire duration of the event(usually somewhere between 12-18 hours)

Why is it on the list?

I have participated in Relay for life since the year 2005. That first year I think I walked/ran around what a marathon would have been (26 miles or so). It was really inspiring to be there in the middle of the night with the luminaria (lighted candles in bags with names of cancer survivors and cancer victims) and walking with cancer survivors. At the time of my first Relay, my grandmother was battling lung cancer and anytime I got tired I just thought that no matter how tired it was nothing compared to her fight.

Shortly afterwards my grandmother passed away, and I dedicated Relay For Life 2006 in her memory. I became very involved with our team's organization and raised over $500 personally thanks to the generosity of many friends and family members. That year my team managed to raise the most money out of all the teams at the event.

In 2007 I managed to participate in Relay, but only at a low level. For the third year in a row I helped bag groceries at a local grocery to raise money and I walked some laps, but because I was busy planning my wedding I didn't get to participate as fully as I would have like. I vowed that I would return with a vengeance in 2008.

The Process

Now that I was no longer physically located at my graduate school, I knew I needed to find a different Relay locale. Also, I knew I wanted to do more than just join a Relay team... I wanted to lead one. I decided that I would form a team of friends and family members and do the Relay For Life that was happening in my hometown.

I thought about the team name and what sort of team theme we should have. I remembered how cool it was that a team in 2007 ran the event. As my group of friends are fairly athletic people I decided it was doable. Thus, the 100 Milers were born. Our goal was to run the entire Relay For Life Event from 7PM to 7AM and to ask people for donations based on miles ran. Additionally, we would have several fund raisers at the event to raise money. I found an awesome video game called Re-Mission, where you play a nano-bot who fights cancer cells within a person's body. I decided that at Relay our team would setup a few computers and allow people to play a mission for a fee, with the highest score of the night winning a prize. We also decided that a bake sale would be perfect for an event where people are going to be moving all night long.

I gathered a group of friends from all aspects of my life, from childhood up through graduate school, along with many members of my family. Every single one of my team members was extremely helpful in accomplishing our goals. Before the event we raised over $1700 online through donations and around $200 through other fund raisers. The day of the event, everyone showed up on time and in shape for their run. We smashed the 100 Mile barrier, totally 108 miles from the 7PM start to the 7AM finish. I ran over 14 miles from 3AM - 5AM, which was the longest I've ever ran.

In the process, we raised another $500 from the bake sale, video game, and on-site donations for a total of $2400 raised for the American Cancer Society. I am very proud of all my teammates who ran further and raised more money than they thought possible and also every one of our generous donors.

Relay is always an emotional event, and nothing was better for me than being with some awesome friends and family while my wife high stepped the final lap to complete a very successful night.