It seems that in the past, I’ve used this blog almost as an online, very non-private journal. It’s probably time that I use it as a real update tool!
Anyone that’s spoken to me in the past 10 months knows that I was involved in planning the Salt Lake City Relay for Life. The Relay is an all night campout team walking/running relay. Teams band together before the event, raise money, and then come to Relay and take turns on the track, all night long. Some events are a full 24 hours. Mine, thanks in part to the weather, was about 14 hours.
The reason we Relay all night is because it symbolizes that while cancer never sleeps, neither will the fight to stop cancer. It is also very symbolic of the fight against cancer. As a cancer patient is getting treatment, there are times where it would be just so easy to give up, to stop fighting. However, people battle on through that and beat cancer. So do the teams keep walking at 3am, and in the case of my Relay, in rain and 39 degree weather.
Here’s the recap of the event:
First of all— who would have guessed that June 6th would be so cold!? The weather was definitely a huge set back. We were setting the event up at 11am on the day of the Relay. The entire week had been cold and rainy. We’d all hoped and prayed that the weather would decide to cooperate. It was decent until about 3pm, when temperatures dropped suddenly and the wind began to blow. Then came the rain. This weather lasted about 20 minutes. Then, it suddenly cleared up. We finished setting up, just in time for hundreds of people to join us at This is The Place Heritage Park. By the time we kicked off the event, with cancer survivors starting the first lap, we had at least 1,000 people there plus several media stations. I did about 4 live broadcasts for KUTV and one non-live for channel 13. I also did an interview with the Deseret News (too see what they put together, please visit: http://deseretnews.com/photo/slideshow/1,5587,5046,00.html?archMon=200806). We had great entertainment, and everyone really enjoyed themselves. Until about 3am when the heavens opened and the weather no longer cooperated with us. It rained for the next 3-4 hours, with the temperatures somewhere in the high 30’s, low 40’s. It amazed me how many people stayed on the track during this time!!! But, at about 6 am, I realized that no one would come back next year if they all died because of exposure to the weather! So, we wrapped early. At the end of the Relay, we’d made about $50,000. And the money is still rolling in. The money goes to support cancer research, support programs, and advocacy efforts within our government. We're still taking donations, so visit www.saltlakerelay.com if you'd like to donate some money online. :)
Anyway, it was so inspiring to see all of the people that came out to support the teams and all of the people who have been lost because of cancer and the people that have or are beating it. Everyone who came had a connection with cancer, which isn’t surprising since statistically one in every two men will get cancer in their life, and one in every three women.
Probably one of the most rewarding moments was when I was doing a TV interview, and we were talking about the Luminaria Ceremony. This ceremony is really the heart of relay and gives everyone an opportunity to reflect back on the people they’ve seen suffer because of cancer. As I was talking, the camera man zoomed in on a bag that was written for my grandmother. What made this especially touching is that my mom wasn’t able to come because she recently had full reconstructive knee surgery. But, I knew she was watching the news. And, I knew that she would see the bag we’d made for her mother. My mom, who wasn’t able to come, was still able to join us in remembering her mom.
Anyone that’s spoken to me in the past 10 months knows that I was involved in planning the Salt Lake City Relay for Life. The Relay is an all night campout team walking/running relay. Teams band together before the event, raise money, and then come to Relay and take turns on the track, all night long. Some events are a full 24 hours. Mine, thanks in part to the weather, was about 14 hours.
The reason we Relay all night is because it symbolizes that while cancer never sleeps, neither will the fight to stop cancer. It is also very symbolic of the fight against cancer. As a cancer patient is getting treatment, there are times where it would be just so easy to give up, to stop fighting. However, people battle on through that and beat cancer. So do the teams keep walking at 3am, and in the case of my Relay, in rain and 39 degree weather.
Here’s the recap of the event:
First of all— who would have guessed that June 6th would be so cold!? The weather was definitely a huge set back. We were setting the event up at 11am on the day of the Relay. The entire week had been cold and rainy. We’d all hoped and prayed that the weather would decide to cooperate. It was decent until about 3pm, when temperatures dropped suddenly and the wind began to blow. Then came the rain. This weather lasted about 20 minutes. Then, it suddenly cleared up. We finished setting up, just in time for hundreds of people to join us at This is The Place Heritage Park. By the time we kicked off the event, with cancer survivors starting the first lap, we had at least 1,000 people there plus several media stations. I did about 4 live broadcasts for KUTV and one non-live for channel 13. I also did an interview with the Deseret News (too see what they put together, please visit: http://deseretnews.com/photo/slideshow/1,5587,5046,00.html?archMon=200806). We had great entertainment, and everyone really enjoyed themselves. Until about 3am when the heavens opened and the weather no longer cooperated with us. It rained for the next 3-4 hours, with the temperatures somewhere in the high 30’s, low 40’s. It amazed me how many people stayed on the track during this time!!! But, at about 6 am, I realized that no one would come back next year if they all died because of exposure to the weather! So, we wrapped early. At the end of the Relay, we’d made about $50,000. And the money is still rolling in. The money goes to support cancer research, support programs, and advocacy efforts within our government. We're still taking donations, so visit www.saltlakerelay.com if you'd like to donate some money online. :)
Anyway, it was so inspiring to see all of the people that came out to support the teams and all of the people who have been lost because of cancer and the people that have or are beating it. Everyone who came had a connection with cancer, which isn’t surprising since statistically one in every two men will get cancer in their life, and one in every three women.
Probably one of the most rewarding moments was when I was doing a TV interview, and we were talking about the Luminaria Ceremony. This ceremony is really the heart of relay and gives everyone an opportunity to reflect back on the people they’ve seen suffer because of cancer. As I was talking, the camera man zoomed in on a bag that was written for my grandmother. What made this especially touching is that my mom wasn’t able to come because she recently had full reconstructive knee surgery. But, I knew she was watching the news. And, I knew that she would see the bag we’d made for her mother. My mom, who wasn’t able to come, was still able to join us in remembering her mom.
Anyway, all in all, it was a great event. I am so happy that I was able to be a part of it!!!
