Relay for Life gears up

PORTALES — The Relay for Life will soon be returning to fight cancer through fun and fellowship in Eastern New Mexico.

The event is held to raise money for the American Cancer Society for cancer research, and separate events are coming together in Portales and Clovis.

Roosevelt County’s relay is from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. April 29 at the Portales Softball Complex, and Curry County’s relay is from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. June 10 at Ned Houk Park.

Roosevelt County Relay for Life Leadership Chair Mark Clark said the event’s new location will bring with it new activities for attendees to participate in for a certain amount of tickets.

“We’re doing carnival style. You’ll buy tickets and each event will tell you how many tickets you need to be able to participate, and you just give them tickets,” he said.

The new activities will include a dunking booth, a mechanical bull, and a dance that will begin after the relay has ended.

“We’ve got a DJ there, so we’re just gonna play until everyone leaves. During this dance, we don’t have a playlist or anything. If you want to dance to a particular song, you go put a ticket in his bucket and he’ll play that song,” said Clark.

The laps that teams walk throughout the course of the relay will now feature “themed laps” once an hour, Clark added.

“We’ll have a funky chicken lap, a limbo lap, any kind of lap you can think of,” he said.

The Curry County Relay for Life will have a mix of new and returning activities, according to Event Lead Sharon Franco.

Returning events include the box car races and the Fear Factor event, which challenges participants to eat items without knowing what they are.

“The kids really like it. It dares you to do stuff. It’s just like it is on the TV show. You’re actually eating grapes, you’re not eating eyeballs,” she said.

Franco noted that, due to the large number of attendees during the day, activities such as a silent auction and a color run may be added.

A large roster of live music will be present at the relay, though Franco said that the lineup is still to be determined.

Luminaries are customarily lit at the end of relays in honor and memory of those suffering from cancer, and can be purchased for either event for $5, according to organizers.

Those interested in purchasing luminaries in Roosevelt County can contact Clark at 575-607-5692.

Team Lead Marcy Anaya can be contacted at 575-714-1925 to purchase luminaries in Curry County.

Clark urged eastern New Mexico residents to attend the relay to help defeat cancer and make a difference in someone’s life.

“Cancer affects everyone you know, one way or another. Either your friend’s friends, your friend’s grandma — someone you know has been affected by it, which in turn affects you,” he said.

The odds are shifting against cancer, and the relays play a role in that process, according to Franco.

“It used to be the odds were one in three, and now, with research and all, it’s two in three survive cancer, so we would like to have it one day three out of three,” she said.

Interested parties can register at relayforlife.org/portalesnm or relayforlife.org/clovisnm. Registration for team members is $10.