The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Craig — Craig resident Jana Rowe has a reason to run, walk or jog into the early morning hours during Craig’s second annual Relay for Life event next weekend.

Three reasons, actually.

“I’m doing it in memory of my mother,” Rowe said, adding that her mother died of breast cancer.

A sister and brother-in-law who have survived cancer are also her motivation for participating in the relay, she said.

An opening ceremony at 6 p.m. July 18 at the Moffat County High School track will kick off the event. A Survivors’ Lap and individual team laps are scheduled to follow the opening ceremonies.

The event is slated to run throughout the night, with final team laps scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. July 19.

However, the race to raise funds for cancer research starts months before the first teams take to the track.

A kickoff celebration in Feb­ruary marked the official start of the 2008 Relay for Life fundraising season.

A week before Craig’s second annual Relay for Life event was scheduled to start, said Elisa Hayes, Relay for Life events co-chairperson, she was confident about the status of the event’s fundraising efforts.

“We’ll definitely reach the official (fundraising) goal,” she said Friday morning. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Updated fundraising records available later in the day proved her prediction true.

As of Friday afternoon, the Relay had raised $69,026, Hayes said, thereby exceeding its official $65,000 objective by more than $4,000.

Fundraising totals include money provided by sponsorships and money collected by relay teams, Hayes said.

The relay still could raise more. Relay for Life teams have a week left to collect additional funds.

Rowe said she looks forward to next weekend’s relay with anticipation.

“I’m way excited,” she said.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com.