Knox County Relay for Life

Over the weekend I had the privilege to take part in an amazing event in our area. In actuality I believe that this type of activity is in over 20 different countries. I am talking about Relay for Life.

Relay for Life is an 18 hour relay walk that takes place with different teams participating that raise money to help find a cure for cancer. During the Knox County Relay for Life event, there were 44 different teams represented and each team had at least one member on the track walking through the entire 18 hours. The first lap is taken by the survivors...There were 4 women on the team that I was on that were survivors, including my mom.

The first lap---the survivors

This year I took part in the St. Vincent De Paul team. I felt drawn to do this for 2 reasons.... First my mom who was diagnosed with bladder cancer...who had surgery, then went through 2 bouts of chemo. I can say that she is now among the survivors.

Me, my mom, my dad, and my sister

I also did this for 2 friends.  I watched a friend go through being diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer. I had a friend and coworker diagnosed with breast cancer, went through 2 different surgeries, and then went through chemo and radiation. She finished radiation about a month before this event. Cancer had affected my life and I HATE that! I joined this team for them.

This was during the caregiver lap..this was my friend (in purple who battled breast cancer this year) and her family.

I can say that it was an AMAZING experience. I went to the event by myself first, then I came home and got the kids and took them so Bill could go to work. They had booths set up with fun things to do, including getting your hair sprayed for donations by the team "Kids Against Cancer." One of my friends organizes this team every year and they raised $112 just by spraying hair. Rebecca even got in on the action.

Then Saturday morning I went back to walk some more. The sense of community and doing something above and beyond me was amazing.

The team that I was on raised over $2800 for the cause. I think that is outstanding considering we were a first year team and no one really knew what they were doing.

As a whole, the Knox County Relay for Life raised over $240,000! That is so good!

It was an emotional, amazing experience and it is one that I will be joining in on again in the years to come! If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend participating. It is so worth it.