Relay for Life (American Cancer Society)

[sonrisa]

I know some of you have mentioned doing this. I am considering putting together a team for one later this summer. Talk to me about it. Do you recommend it?

24 hours at a racetrack in the summer. I'd expect hot days and cold nights here. Is this feasible? Do people come and go? Could the baby walk with me a few of the laps without being a registered walker? Can you stop and rest for some of those late night hours? I can't imagine anyone but me, DH or my mom being there between 10 pm and 8 am. My mom is late 60s and a has a bum knee, so she won't be walking the lion's share. Could she take an hour shift just sitting on the track to give us a break? We'd have to get an overnight sitter for the baby, I'd guess. How many people do you need for a team? Can you get something like this together on a month's notice? Does it take a lot of planning?

Just thinking a bit.

(I'm bumping this for thoughts from the day time crowd. Thanks for all the responses yesterday.)

[sprky79]

Is this the ACS sponsored one or the Susan Komen?

[montereybride]

I haven't created my own team but I've been part of teams. I know the larger ones plan all year.

The Relay in Salinas is the largest in the nation (as far as money raised) and there are team captain meetings throughout the year.

You are not required to have someone on the track for the entire 24 hours but it's encouraged. Your clock gets punched every hour and then those who have every hour punched are entered into a drawing; our prize is free registration the following year. You should be able to look up last year's participants online and try to find a team captain and pick his or her brain.

I didn't register this year but walked with my girlfriend's team. I give a donation but I don't fundraise. I will probably get more involved next year. I want to make pink ribbon jewelry to sell.. Earrings, bracelets, etc. Maybe. It seems a long way off right now, lol.

[emjacobs]

I've walked several years. Our team required at least 3 people walking all the time but we were always no fewer than 50 people and all relatively young.

There was always something fun going on. Volleyball courts, music, soccer, etc.

There were several people that came or went but I think they set a time that if you were there you had to stay through the night.

[imoan]

It's a blast! You won't regret getting involved. I've been doing it for four years. Two years captaining my own team and two years chaperoning for my hometown's teen center. It's touching but so much fun at the same time. Definitely do it!

[underwaterrhymes]

I've done the ACS Relay (and also the SGK 3-Day). They're both awesome, but since you asked about the Relay specifically:

Usually they light lanterns in memory of people at dusk, which is really emotional and special. They also typically have a DJ for the event and they have things like hula hoop contests and clowns for the kids. (I DJd one year for a friend who organized the event and had a DJ bail last minute - it was fun.)

One member of your team really should be walking at all times - but it's not necessary. Walking late at night is really a moving experience. The camping is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it, especially if you're part of a team. We had a group of about ten of us that did it one year, but only five of us stayed for the camping. It was so much fun - such an incredible experience.

[rodeored]

Jul 8, 2012 15:48:37 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

I know some of you have mentioned doing this. I am considering putting together a team for one later this summer. Talk to me about it. Do you recommend it?

24 hours at a racetrack in the summer. I'd expect hot days and cold nights here. Is this feasible? Do people come and go? Could the baby walk with me a few of the laps without being a registered walker? Can you stop and rest for some of those late night hours? I can't imagine anyone but me, DH or my mom being there between 10 pm and 8 am. My mom is late 60s and a has a bum knee, so she won't be walking the lion's share. Could she take an hour shift just sitting on the track to give us a break? We'd have to get an overnight sitter for the baby, I'd guess. How many people do you need for a team? Can you get something like this together on a month's notice? Does it take a lot of planning?

Just thinking a bit.

I have done Relay a couple of times and I would say over all it is very low key and there aren't people running around making sure that you have someone walking at all hours. I enjoyed it when I went, the atmosphere is incredible and very touching. I always cry during the survivor lap.

To answer some of your questions, yes you can come and go but you are supposed to have someone from your team there at all times. It shouldn't be a problem for the baby to be there, we had people not on teams come and visit us and walk for a bit. As far as not having someone walking at all times, I don't think it is a big deal. I know the first time I did it in high school me and some of my friends on another team were the only ones walking at 2 in the morning and that was mainly because it was really cold and we were freezing and hoped walking would warm us up lol.

As far as planning a team, I don't know as I was never a captain. You can plan this in a short amount of time because I know that when I did it in college we got it all figured out about a day before registration deadline in typical college student style.

[imoan]

As for the staying the the night thing... It's not really necessary. Every time I do it, there are only a handful of teams that stay the whole night. The first year, me and four other people on my team walked the ENTIRE night (we didn't relay). I walked like I was about 90 years old for a week and had blisters the size of my fist on both feet. But we had a blast and I don't regret having done it. But now I just relay like you're supposed to!

[imoan]

And it's very casual. No one is going to insist you have someone walking all night.

[underwaterrhymes]

Yeah, we spent a good deal of time the five of us that stayed walking together because it was a nice experience to be doing it with them, but after awhile we took turns. Some of us wanted alone time, but also because we got tired and needed a break!

[montereybride]

I've stayed all night each time I've participated. I'm usually there at 8am on Saturday to set up the tent and I stay through the closing ceremonies.

I'm not sure what the age range is for participants as far as at what age they have to have a form signed. The kiddos who have stayed all night usually end up asleep in the tent over night and there's always someone in the tent, especially if you're selling food/items as a fundraiser.

[emjacobs]

Jul 8, 2012 16:23:34 GMT -5 imoan said:

And it's very casual. No one is going to insist you have someone walking all night.

Yes it's super casual. The one we do is a larger one and our team pushes to have someone walking all the time but there's no real requirement for it. The environment is totally kid friendly although I don't know how the baby would enjoy the noise and heat if you decided to camp.

My thing about a time that you have to stay was that they were required to have someone manning the gate so they set a rule that at midnight you couldn't get in or out until 6 am so that they didn't have to have as many volunteers over night. If there was an emergency or someone really needed to leave you could ask an official and they would let you out.

[karmasabiotch]

I have done it for two years with staying the whole time. This year I stayed until after the luminary walk and left. I'm not the camping type so I hated staying all night, sleeping in a tent with rmusic playing through the 24 hours. But is a worthwhile event. Lots of people brought their kids to walk with them infant through teensn. Many of the older kids probably 7 and up stayed the night. I joined an established team.

[salimoo]

I've been on a Relay team, had my own team, and been part of the management team for the entire event. I've never heard of anyone being forced to stay. Walking the entire time is more honor system. It's not like they're out there checking ID and doing counts. The best part is after the luminaria lighting (the bags with the candles) and through the night. One year I did it, it rained, so we stayed really late under a canopy, then came back the next morning. All the other times I've stayed, whether in a tent or a camper. It's really, really worth it to stay.

Don't get so hung up on the OMG can I walk for that long??? Unlike SGK and Avon, you're not walking to somewhere. You're just walking around a track. It's really more about the experience and being surrounded by people who have been through what you've been through, whether as a survivor or a caregiver or just someone who has watched a love one go through it. It's a walk, but it's not about the walking.

It's also not really a full 24-hours, IIRC, with all of the events and stuff. I think it comes out to be more like 18 or so.

[codec]

You have a PM

[karmasabiotch]

I've done it got a few years. It seemed like after about 12am there were maybe 3 or 4 walkers on the track and it picked up around 7am. I was on a team with about 20 people and a few them didnt even do 1 lap.