Teams of cancer survivors and their supporters will run and walk at Green Lake this weekend to celebrate those who have survived, remember those who haven't and support those who are currently fighting cancer.
And they will do it in shifts for 24 hours.
It's the Relay for Life at Green Lake, an event where teams of people camp out and take turns making their way around the Lower Woodland Park track to raise money for the American Cancer Society and cancer research.
Doing more
According to the society's website, it all started in Western Washington, 20 years ago with one man who wanted to make a difference while doing something he loved: running marathons.
Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, decided he wanted to do something to raise extra money for his local American Cancer Society office. So, for 24 hours, he circled the Baker Stadium track at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
Throughout that day and night, friends and supporters paid $25 to run or walk with him for 30 minutes.
During that 83-mile venture, he raised $27,000. But even after all the miles and money raised, Klatt knew he - and others - could do more.
Not too long after, he and a small committee planned the first team-relay event and called it the City of Destiny Classic 24-hour Run Against Cancer.
The first event took place in 1986 and raised $33,000.
Now, the relays take place throughout the state, country and the world. According to the American Cancer Society website, Relay for Life events will take place in more than 20 countries by the end of 2005.
'Touched by cancer'
Many of the teams at the Green Lake event will be made up of survivors and family members, said Christi Beckley, community relationship manager at the society, but others will just come to have fun and give back to their community.
Most of the people who participate "have been touched by cancer in some way," she said, but "we have all walks of life" at the event.
Although she's not a cancer survivor herself, American Cancer Society volunteer and event chairperson Elaine Marans said most people know someone with cancer or have somehow otherwise touched by the disease.
"It's hard not to in this day and age," she said.
Trinidad Jimenez, a cancer survivor and longtime volunteer with the society, thinks events like this are important because they create a kind of camaraderie.
"It's sort of an outlet," she said. "It brings people together, and that's very important."
Jimenez, 74, lost her father to cancer and fought breast cancer herself about 40 years ago. When she started her battle, she said, there was really no one to whom she could turn.
"There was nothing out there at that time," she said. "I never read anything about it until it happened to me."
A former Los Angeles resident and University of Washington employee, Jimenez will be out there this weekend ready to do what shecan to fight cancer and help others.
It was a "terrible, terrible, nightmare time in my life," she added. "I don't want another woman to go through what I did."
The relay
The Relay for Life at Green Lake teams will consist of about eight to 15 people who will camp out at schools and parks. Cancer survivors will make the first lap, and organizers ask the teams to have a representative on the track at all times.
In addition, each team member must raise a minimum of $100. They can do this, for example, through direct solicitation.
Last year's event brought in about $30,000, Beckley said. This year, the goal is $35,000.
"I'm sure we'll blow that out of the water," she said.
In addition to the relay, there will be live music and other entertainment, as well as events for children.
Teams can register up to the time of the event and at the relay, which will take place at the Lower Woodland Park track, 5699 E. Green Lake Way N., from noon Saturday until noon Sunday.
Highlights of the event include the survivor's walk at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, a luminaria ceremony at 10 p.m. and the closing ceremonies and awards at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Donations can be mailed to the American Cancer Society, Attn: Green Lake Relay for Life, 728 134th St. S.W., Suite 101, Everett, WA 98204.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Christi Beckley, at (425) 322-1118. Or visit www.cancer.org.
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