By JESSE GRAHAM
THE RELAY for Life is coming back to Healesville in November, with a huge fund-raising goal set to help with cancer research and registration for runners opening.
The Yarra Ranges Relay for Life will be held from Saturday 7 November through to the Sunday morning at Healesville’s Don Road Sporting Complex.
Registration is now open for participants and teams to sign up, and Yarra Ranges chairperson Prue Northey is encouraging people to sign up and take part in the 18-hour event.
“Come have a camp-out,” she said.
“It’s a good social interaction, and it’s really great for people who have been affected by cancer, to speak to people going through the same issue as them,” Ms Northey said.
She said the event was moved to Healesville after being held in Kalorama last year, in the hope of drawing more teams – this year, organisers are hoping for 1000 participants and have a fund-raising goal of about $90,000.
Moving the event will hopefully bring residents from the hills to the Healesville event, Ms Northey said.
She said she got involved five years ago, after a family friend died of cancer, and has been chairing the event for the last three years.
She said one of the benefit of the relay was that all of the funds raised went to the Cancer Council, not one cancer’s research in particular.
Olinda resident Ingrid Meadows said that her team, The Pirates of the Cureabbean, would be coming down to the Healesville event.
She said that she felt the relay was a way to spread awareness of cancer, especially those who might feel “helpless” when a close person was affected by cancer.
“This is a way to A, raise money for the Cancer Council, B, to spread the word and C, to feel like you’re contributing in some way,” Ms Meadows said.
“By participating, you feel like you’re doing something.”
For more information on the event, visit www.relayforlife.org.au.
