chicot60
06-04-2011, 03:40 PM
I had an interesting last night that I would like to share. I participated in the Relay for Life which took place in our town. It is a 12 hour walk to show our support for cancer victims and cancer survivors. There was 16 teams in total that participated. Our volunteer fire department was one of the groups. There were anywhere from 6-10 people per group. We had 6 firemen in our group. The event started @ 7 pm. and then continued on until 7 am the following morning. Prior to the walk it was up to each individual to collect money from sponsors. I don't know when the last time I pulled a all-nighter.
The majority of the night went without a hitch but around 4 am we were told to go inside the school gym as lightning had been flashing for awhile and was not getting too close for comfort. While in the gym we got a pretty good downpour but around 5:30 am it stopped and we were able to go back outside and around the track.
On the inner portion of the track there were numerous tents that were put up by the individual teams and also 2 main larger tents for music and other events.
Some of the highlites for myself were that along the inner edge of the track there were numerous paper bags placed every 2 feet or so. On these bags there was a message remebering someone who either passed on or was battling cancer at this time. In each bag there was also a candle and then in the evening after it was dark the candles were lit and as you walked around the track the candles would help to lite our way. Pretty neat. Even after the rain that we got some of the candles were not extinguished.
The track was 1/4 mile long and everytime you did a lap you picked up a bead which you put on a string. I ran out of room on my string and I counted my beads this am and I had 74, which meant that I walked 18 1/2 miles.
I also have two big honking blisters on the side of my foot and that stoppage that we had for the lightning and the rain gave me an opportunity to take off my sock and to discover why my foot was sore.
Again an amazing experience and one that I think I will repeat the following year. I belief that this is an event that in widespread and probably is also held in your community so I would suggest one takes the opportunity to participate next year.
The majority of the night went without a hitch but around 4 am we were told to go inside the school gym as lightning had been flashing for awhile and was not getting too close for comfort. While in the gym we got a pretty good downpour but around 5:30 am it stopped and we were able to go back outside and around the track.
On the inner portion of the track there were numerous tents that were put up by the individual teams and also 2 main larger tents for music and other events.
Some of the highlites for myself were that along the inner edge of the track there were numerous paper bags placed every 2 feet or so. On these bags there was a message remebering someone who either passed on or was battling cancer at this time. In each bag there was also a candle and then in the evening after it was dark the candles were lit and as you walked around the track the candles would help to lite our way. Pretty neat. Even after the rain that we got some of the candles were not extinguished.
The track was 1/4 mile long and everytime you did a lap you picked up a bead which you put on a string. I ran out of room on my string and I counted my beads this am and I had 74, which meant that I walked 18 1/2 miles.
I also have two big honking blisters on the side of my foot and that stoppage that we had for the lightning and the rain gave me an opportunity to take off my sock and to discover why my foot was sore.
Again an amazing experience and one that I think I will repeat the following year. I belief that this is an event that in widespread and probably is also held in your community so I would suggest one takes the opportunity to participate next year.