Ole Miss kicks off the Relay for Life 5k on Saturday.
People participate in the Relay for Life 5k For a Cure last year.
File Photo | The Daily Mississippian
Ole Miss Relay for Life will host a 5k relay Saturday for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
The Relay for Life organization is a nationwide fundraising effort that collects donations to go toward the American Cancer Society and raising awareness.
Relay for Life at Ole Miss celebrated Paint the Campus Purple Week in September and will now kick off the first relay for the 2013-14 school year.
Adam Blackwell, co-chair of Relay for Life at Ole Miss and senior public policy leadership major, has been preparing Saturday’s events for months.
“This is Relay for Life’s fifth year at Ole Miss, and we’re excited about Saturday’s 5k for a Cure,” Blackwell said.
The cost to participate is $25 per person, and $15 per person for groups. Participants will receive a T-shirt for the event, and all proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.
Registration on the day of the event starts at 7 a.m. and the event begins at 8 a.m. Online registration is available on the Ole Miss 5k for a Cure page at RacesOnline.com.
Amanda Smith, Oxford resident and participant in the year-long events of Ole Miss Relay for Life, is anticipating Saturday’s 5k, as her relationship to the American Cancer Society is a personal one.
“I relay because I have a long family history of cancer,” she said. “My great grandmother who I was really close to passed away on Christmas Day in 2010 of lung and brain cancer. Several more in my family have also lost the fight to cancer, and one of my cousins is currently fighting it.”
Smith said she is participating in the relay to show her family’s resiliency and refusal to let the disease beat them.
“My aunt and my grandmother have won the fight against cancer, and one of my husband’s aunts and uncle also have won the fight. I relay for my family of fighters.”
A representative of each team will be walking at all times throughout the length of the event, starting and ending in front of the Student Union.
Blackwell and the Relay for Life team are hoping to raise $57,000 this year.
This money comes not only from those participating in the main events, but also from spectators and people who support Relay for Life through donations.
Junior English major Austen Derrick is one of the event’s many nonparticipating supporters.
“I don’t run, but Relay for Life is a great cause and any support they can get is going towards helping find a cure for cancer,” Derrick said.
Signup for the 5k for a Cure will continue until the start of the event.
-Katie Campbell
klcampb5@go.olemiss.edu
