With the biggest problems being exhaustion and the cold, more than 1,600 people easily spent 12 hours walking the University of Illinois Track to raise $228,878.01 for cancer research.

Opening Ceremonies began at 7 p.m. on Friday for this year’s Relay for Life. This event asks for people to organize into teams of ten to fifteen people, get monetary donations from anyone they can and then spend the night out on the track, walking until 7 a.m. the next day.

Some teams were created through Registered Student Organizations or Greek Houses while others were based on groups of friends coming together in support of cancer research. Teams were allowed to bring tents to spend the night in at the track and were encouraged to decorate their campsite to reflect their team theme or the theme of this year’s event, “Marga-relay-ville,” a play on the song “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet.

Most teams brought tents to camp out in along with lots of junk food and snacks. But Tim Murrey, freshman in LAS, said Team AMSA – a pre-med team he was part of – did not have a tent at the track.

“We didn’t have a tent, kind of the homeless team,” said Tyler Hempel, freshman in LAS and AMSA teammate.

Members of The Freshman 15, a team composed of 15 freshmen, had pajama pants with some type of junk food as the design and a junk food nickname on the back of their shirts.

“Our tent had no theme. It wasn’t decorated at all. We decided it was more important for our team to be energetic the whole time,” said Alison Brice, member of the team and freshman in LAS. “We did laps with a boom box and tried to have a conga line.”

“Our tent was pretty much the quiet place,” said Paula Grassmuck, freshman in LAS and member of The Freshman 15. Her team only used it for sleeping, which they said did not happen often.

While other teams were sleeping and walking the track, nighttime activities began. A purple massage table was set up for free ten-minute massages. Sara Shafer of Campus Massage Center provided her services to those that signed up. The slots quickly filled.

The event was alcohol-free, but other forms of entertainment were provided at the main stage at the northwest corner of the track to maintain a fun-loving atmosphere. The Girls Next Door, 3 Spot Dance Troupe, Illini Contraband and others performed to entertain the participants. The participants were even allowed to join in during the talent show.

“I liked the Napoleon Dynamite dance,” Murrey said.

Next to the massage table, some teams organize games of Frisbee, football and even a dodgeball tournament.

“My favorite part was dodgeball, fo-sho. You can quote me on that,” Brice said. “We were just taking it easy and then there was a team that was really competitive. I felt like I was in the movie.”

Relay organizers provided forms of entertainment for the teams, but sleep deprivation and the weather took its toll as well.

“The hardest part of relay was the cold and staying up,” Hempel said. Many participants were walking the track covered in blankets and layers of clothing, while some braved the elements and ran for extended periods of time.

“It didn’t even seem that hard at all because it was all fun. We were all here for the same reasons,” Grassmuck said.

The festivities took a break when the Luminaria ceremony began. Bags holding glow sticks were purchased in honor of those who had suffered from cancer and lined the entire track. On the east bleachers, bags spelled the word “Hope” and at one point early in the evening, all the lights were turned off and the glow sticks were broken.

“My favorite part was the Luminaria,” Grassmuck said. Her grandfather had passed away from stomach cancer, “It was really emotional and it gave me a chance to deal with it.”

Early in the morning, as the participants cleaned up, the dark skies were replaced by a bright sunrise. The reason Relay for Life is done throughout the night is to symbolize this transition. Those dealing with cancer must live with those dark times, and hope to see brighter days in the future. Relay for Life is trying to make those brighter days come a little bit sooner.