Relay for Life

I kept forgetting to sit down and write about my experience at Relay this year.  We got there and setup our campsite.  The sun was shining, we were lounging and everyone was excited and running around playing games.  The event started and spirits were high.

One side of the track.

It got dark, but it was still warm and festivities were still going strong.

We started the Luminaria ceremony at 10PM and lined up around the track.
Drip, drop, drip, drop.  The rain started to fall.  I found it funny, right as we begin to reflect the rain begins to fall.  "Oh well, this won't last long."  I thought.

I was wrong.

We end the ceremony and go back to the festivities, but the rain kept falling.  I had searched for my rain jacket at home, but had left it in the trunk of my car.  Oops.

With all of our backpacks under the canopy, there was barely any room for some of the guys to stand under the canopy.

The rain fell and fell, and it looked like it wouldn't stop.  When it did let up, you couldn't sit back on the ground.  People were cold and wet.  We didn't want to run around and play the games.  Being tired, wet and cold sucks.  Everyone got grumpy.  But we still took turns walking.  We still laughed, and we still remembered that this isn't the end, it's just one night and we will be fine.

We thought that once it stopped it would pick up and everyone would be excited again.  But instead it began to pour and pour.  I kept walking, and noticed that I saw less and less tents and people over all. Many people decided to just pack up and leave.  It made me sad.  Tonight was supposed to be about support, but instead people were cold and went home.

I ran into a friends mom and she said this that stood out to me; "If someone can go through chemotherapy and endure cancer, I can endure a little rain for one night."

It wasn't a little rain, but we'll get over it.

In Oregon fashion, the sun rose to a cloudless morning with the birds chirping and fresh morning air.  Of course Oregon, of course.

At the beginning of that week, we had raised approximately $15,000 of our $38,000 goal.  By the end of the event, we were at $31,000.  The chair of the event shaved her head because they had raised over $4,000 in the night alone.  I got to cut off her pony tail, after breaking a pair of scissors.  With all the excitement of a shaved head, everyone who had endured the night stood around the stage.  I could feel a sense of happiness, and humbleness in the crowd.  As they chatted with us info about the closing of the event, we were reminded what this was about.

It wasn't about the games, or the shaved heads, forget about the rain and the cold.  We were there for support of our friends and family who have fought cancer, to remember those who had lost the battle, and to help prevent the future battles that many of us might face.

Thank you to everyone who donated to me during my 100-mile run.  Thank you to everyone who cheered me on.  The event was wet, but it was an honor to be there and to support those in my life.

Below are some photos of the Luminaria bags that I made.