Saturday morning at 10 a.m., a large group of people will assemble on the track at Masich Place Stadium.
They will then start to walk around the track. Many other people will gather around the edges of the track and applaud them as they go by.
They are the survivors, and they always start the Prince George Relay for Life.
They do their lap, and then some of them leave, possibly going back to continue their recovery. Others will stay, joining the other members of their team for the next 24 hours of the Relay.
It’s Canada’s only 24-hour relay, and it is an experience just to watch it.
I had the privilege of covering the Relay for Life for a few years when I worked for the Prince George Free Press. Other reporters had other events to cover on a Saturday, or just wanted a well-deserved day off.
I, however, had no real social life, so it was no big deal for me to cover the Relay from start to finish.
At least once, that was exactly what I did. I got photos and interviews at the Survivor Lap; I came back partway through the afternoon to talk with people; I came back late in the evening to get photos and interviews at the Luminary Event; I came back in the early-morning hours to talk to some of the people who were pulling their shift for their team at that hour; and I came back for the finale on Sunday morning.
Oh yes, I also came back to Masich Place Stadium in a different way on Saturday afternoon, flying overhead in a helicopter to get a picture of the participants forming a symbol of one kind or another in the infield.
It was fun, it was exhilarating, and it was tiring.
But the next year, I came back to do it again.
Head over to Masich Place Stadium sometime between 10 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday for this year’s Relay for Life. You’ll love it.
