Global Relay Track
Relay For Life happens in 36 countries on six continents. This is the home for everyone who is part of it: the people who Relay, the people who work on it, the reporters who cover it, and anyone who wants to know why we stay on the track all night.
It is always Relay somewhere
What time is it? Time to join Relay.
Relay For Life is a team event that lasts through the night, because cancer never sleeps. Teams take turns on a track while a whole community celebrates, remembers, and raises money to fight cancer. Every Relay in the world is built on the same three words.
The first lap belongs to cancer survivors. We cheer for every one of them, and for the caregivers who walk beside them.
02When it gets dark, the track lights up with luminaria. Each one carries a name.
03Every lap raises money and awareness for research, patient support, and prevention in your own country.
Photos: Marsha Daniel-Joseph (Trinidad & Tobago) and Chola Bweupe (Zambia), Global Heroes of Hope; Relais pour la Vie, Fondation Cancer (Luxembourg), photo by Mari-Liis Haliik.
Relay For Life began in the United States in 1985, when one doctor walked and ran for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Today national cancer organisations around the world run their own Relays, each in their own language and their own way. See the countries where Relay happens.
Local times update live. The card with the gold edge is your own time zone.
Three minutes from the 2024 Global Relay For Life recap.
Everything here was built by volunteers for the global Relay family. Use it for your own event, your team, your school, or your company. No sign-up, no cost.
A sponsor letter, a welcome email for new captains, a press release, and a kickoff agenda, ready to copy.
Open the templatesPlan ✉️Answer a few questions and get a ready-to-send letter for a school, a company, or a community group.
Build a letterRecruit 🧠A new quiz every month in four languages. Play it at your event or share it with your team.
Take the quizLearn 🎵Music written for the track: for the opening lap, the quiet hours, and the finish.
ListenSound 📝A short guide for survivors, caregivers, and team captains who want to speak or write about why they Relay.
Read the guideVoice 🌊Make a marbled purple-and-gold background with your finger. A calm way to make a beautiful post.
Make onePlayAfter dark, every Relay in the world does the same thing. The lights go off, and paper bags with candles inside light the whole track. Each bag carries a name: someone we lost, someone still fighting, someone who made it through. In some countries they are called luminaria. In others, candle bags. The silence is the same everywhere.
In the middle of the night the track is quiet and the walkers are tired. That is the part of Relay that matters most, because cancer does not stop when it gets hard. There are three things you can give, and none of them requires you to walk all night.
Join a team at a Relay near you, or start one. Most people who Relay walked their first lap because a friend asked them.
Find your RelaySend this page to one person who has never heard of Relay. On the track, one more person is always welcome.
Every Relay raises money for the cancer organisation in its own country. Give where you live, and it works where you live.
How giving worksWriting about Relay For Life? The media page has the facts, the history, the logos, and who to contact.
At every Relay, the sun comes up on people who stayed all night for someone they love. That is the whole idea: cancer is a long night, and nobody should walk it alone. This site grows every month, so come back, or start with the stories.
