Add a mud fight, a few beers and more committed participants to the scene at Dartmouth's Memorial Field Friday night, and the torrential downpour may have provoked a reenactment of Alpha Delta fraternity's Green Key lawn party.
Early Friday evening, participants in the first annual Relay for Life set up sleeping bags, tents and food stations to stay overnight at the track. Students brought soccer balls and frisbees, and campus bands, comedians and a cappella groups entertained the walkers. About 650 people signed up with teams, and nearly 1,000 in total came to the event, which raised $45,000 for cancer research.
By midnight, however, some teams decided to drop out due to falling temperatures. Once the rain began, only a few avid walkers remained.
"The rain started at five in the morning, right when my shift began, and there were about 30 people still walking," Calvin Richardson '06 said. "But most people had taken their sleeping bags and blankets to go back home."
Richardson, walking for his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, played in his band, Fashion Fashion!, earlier Friday night and returned at 5 a.m. the next morning to walk.
According to Jeff DellaVolpe '04, the civic intern for the Tucker Foundation and one of the project's organizers, there were a few people who demonstrated their commitment to fight cancer by walking the entire night.
Among the last teams standing was "Team DellaVolpe," captained by DellaVolpe, which raised a victorious total of $4,800.
"My team consisted mostly of family members from all over in the name of my aunt, Sandy DellaVolpe, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy," Jeff said. "She led the survivor lap, and everyone came to support this cause in her name."
In addition to celebrating the struggles endured by cancer survivors, the relay was dedicated to the memory of Brian Henry '04, who would be graduating this year if cancer had not taken his life in February of 2003. Brian's mother, Carol Henry, was among the many speakers at the opening ceremony of the relay.
To honor her classmate, Class of 2004 president Alexa Hanson presented Henry with $100 in her son's name. Henry also received a memento from Dean Sylvia Langford to celebrate the event.
DellaVolpe said that the large number of people coming to the event for different purposes besides walking for cancer is to be expected, but the support of students and everyone rallying together for a positive cause does not make it a disappointing outcome.
"It is exciting to have a strong base for this relay, and to have so much room to grow in the upcoming years," he said. "There were many things that had the potential to go wrong, and the fact that they didn't really shows the students and staff that we passed the test."
Overall, the relay collected $45,000, and donations will continue to be accepted until August.
The total amount surpassed DellaVolpe's expectations, which was to be ranked high in the Ivy League. Currently, Dartmouth has raised the fifth-highest amount of all participating universities, beating Brown at $36,482 and edging Tufts at $43,643.
