On the 17th of Feb, we all gathered at the Aberfeldie Athletes Track in Moonee Ponds to participant in the 2012 Moonee Valley Relay for Life. The event raises money for the Cancer Council as well as celebrating cancer survivors, remembering loved ones lost and fighting back against cancer.
The opening lap is the ‘Carers and Survivors’ Lap followed by a member of each team. Gunners started off for the Falcons in what was the start of a long and challenging 24 hours ahead. With her was the team’s baton- a Football of course! In what was a beautiful evening it didn’t take long before we had Woody and Hammo carving up the track. While we kept a member on the track at all times, the team started setting up camp including some interesting tent set up by Alexis and Kate.
At 9pm it was time for the Candle Light ceremony. We all gathered at the main stage where a very moving ceremony was held. Candles were also placed around the track with messages of hope.
To keep the team going into the night, Kate kindly brought along some boardgames. Playing Celebrity Heads saw some very memorable quotes by Alexis including ‘Am I famous?’. While taking turns sleeping in the tent (some under the stars) we continued walking throughout the night. Taking over from the girls at 5am was JC who did an amazing 3-4 hours on the track along with some other members.
The local Rotary Club kindly provide us with a free breakfast! At 9am it was time for some Zumba. While everyone had a great time trying to follow our Columbian Instructor, I think we should all try and stick to playing football…
At 1pm we had the ‘Fight Back’ Ceremony in which we heard an amazing story from a Breast Cancer survivor. It was a very inspirational and emotional moment in the Relay and a lot of people were very moved by it.
By 5pm every Team member was on the track completing the final hour of the race together. By the final lap of the Relay everyone looked very tired but knew that it was all worth it to give back to an extraordinary cause.
In total our team raised over $2,000! Special mentions must go to Gemma, Dani and Cath who raised a lot of the money. I’d like to thank Mei, Lauren, Hammo, Woody, JC, Bec, Taz, Tilly, Sommer, Alexis, Kate, Gemma, Gunners, Dani, Cath and Roey as well as Beth, Harry and Trashby. This truly was a great team effort and watch out for Relay 2013!