Already nine teams have signed up for the Relay for Life … The Border Mail, October 4, 2002.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“And we were thankful for that,” Clive Faul said with a chuckle.
To anyone who’s seen the size of Border Relay For Life – 2850 participants raised $418,000 last year – this gratitude for “already nine teams” only a few weeks out can seem amusing.
It shows the growth since those early years where, at one stage, a committee of four considered not continuing the 24-hour walk around an oval that supports people affected by cancer.
As this year’s event approaches on October 21, some past and present organisers have remembered just how Border Relay For Life has evolved.
Mr Faul and Alistair Macdonald, both on the inaugural committee and past chairpersons, helped create that first relay in 2002 at the Albury Showgrounds.
Mr Faul said the late Eric Turner invited him to represent his Rotary club, Albury West, at the initial relay meeting, held at Age Concern, where he met women from the Cancer Council.
“They presented me with a badge and said, ‘Thanks for joining the committee’,” he said.
Mr Macdonald said his Rotary Club, Albury North, was also approached for assistance in running the event.
“They had tried everywhere without success and we have been involved ever since,” he said.
A joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and Victoria, that first relay, according to official figures, attracted 375 participants who raised more than $60,500. Some, like Peter Drummond and his sister Anne Hayward, joined for a very personal reason, having lost their sister to cancer the previous year. A song written by Ms Hayward for the relay, Step by Step, is still heard today.
Relay For Life itself began in 1985 in the US when a doctor Gordon Klatt walked and ran for 24 hours to raise money and awareness of cancer.
Carl Friedlieb, Border chairperson for about six years to 2016, said this history was not forgotten, with Dr Klatt’s story still outlined at most team information meetings.
After the initial Border relay, Cancer Council NSW become the sole overseeing body although the volunteer committee drove the arrangements.
The location has alternated across the river, with the ovals used including Albury Sportsground, Birallee Park, Bunton Park and Alexandra Park.
“For years there was always that rivalry between Albury and Wodonga and raising the most money,” Mr Friedlieb said.
As numbers grew, tent sites had to be allocated, rules over barbecues and parking brought in and, of course, more people encouraged to join the committee.
While some jobs remain familiar, like marking out the ground and cleaning up rubbish, technology has brought in a new dimension.
“The dream was to have a person doing social media, and everyone laughed at me,” Mr Friedlieb said. “Look at social media, how that’s taken off.”
The second relay in 2003 saw homing pigeons released at the end, the birds actually circling the sky above the oval several times before dispersing, as if rehearsed.
Mr Drummond remembered going full-on formal one year with “black tie, bow ties, shirts, big candelabras, a full sit-down dinner for 20-odd”.
A huge range of activities have become annual traditions, like the live music, Miss Relay competition, the mascots’ race and the children’s zone.
But three ceremonies are constants – the 9.30am opening with its first lap by the survivors and carers, the close 24 hours later and the solemn, moving Hope Ceremony at dusk on Saturday.
“Right from early days it always had that special effect on everybody,” Mr Faul said.
“The one event I’d make sure I was at was the Hope Ceremony,” Mr Drummond added.
Last year the crowd, without prompt or instruction, sat in silent tribute to watch photos of loved ones on the big screen long after organisers had anticipated.
Over the weekend safety concerns have to be considered, but incidents are few.
“Regardless of the numbers, the behaviour of them all, I think, is great, for such a cross-section of the community,” Mr Faul said.
“We used to employ security guys – for what?”
The walkers and runners do thin out overnight, but always somebody will be there, perhaps gritting their teeth to complete 100 kilometres, maybe taking a moment to reflect.
Mr Friedlieb said such times could be cold and lonely.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what the 24 hours is for, to show the journey of cancer,” he said. “It’s not all roses and champagne, it’s walking through that 24 hours, as a carer too, and doing the tough yards and doing the terrible times that every cancer sufferer unfortunately had to do.”
But overwhelmingly Border Relay For Life aims to lift spirits as thousands of different people are united in a wish to remember, celebrate and fight back against cancer.
Not just a fundraiser, Mr Drummond pointed out, “it’s a fun-raiser”.
Kate Wilkinson and Peter Whitmarsh are preparing for their first relay as lead organisers, stepping up last year to share the chairperson’s role after several years on committee.
Ms Wilkinson said they tried to work within individual purposes and motivations, recognising cancer did, and continued to, touch many lives.
“If you do ask, most people want to be involved,” she said.
“They just maybe need a little bit of time to get through their own journey.”
The 24-hour walk/run and the immediacy of social media allows others to join that pilgrimage and grow in understanding.
“That’s what we really love about relay too, because we’re sharing the stories,” Ms Wilkinson said.
And the money side can’t be ignored; since 2002 Border Relay For Life has raised about $3,536,419 for the Cancer Council, which has provided transport services and information, financial and legal assistance for patients in the region as well as aiding research into the ultimate goal.
“We all hope cancer isn’t around in two years’ time, or 10 years’ time, or 100 years’ time and we can put our time into something else,” Mr Friedlieb said.
Border Relay For Life, October 21-22, Alexandra Park, East Albury. Register at relayforlife.org.au/border, 1300 65 65 85 or on the day from 7.30am