Now into its third edition this year, the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) – TalkMed Relay For Life 2019 took place this weekend at the National Stadium, with over 7,000 participants celebrating the triumph of accomplishing the 15-hour overnight relay and 208 teams taking part in the event’s 100km Challenge – doubled the number compared to last year.

Showing solidarity in the fight against cancer 

The overwhelming response signifies solidarity in the ongoing fight against cancer and is a strong testament to the Singapore Cancer Society’s message that nobody needs to battle cancer alone.

Founded in May 1985 by the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life is one of the world’s largest fundraisers as well as a global movement for cancer survivors, caregivers and volunteers to be recognised, supported and connected via a strong support system.

Bringing together the community against cancer 

And Singapore is the 25th country to organise the Relay For Life and be part of the global movement. 

This meaningful annual event brings together the community to Celebrate the lives of cancer survivors, Remember those lost to cancer and Fight Back against a disease that has taken so much.

Event kicked off at 6pm yesterday with Celebrate segment 

The event festivities had kicked off at 6pm last evening, with the opening segment, Celebrate, which had all the cancer survivors at the event taking the first lap around the track – celebrating their victory over cancer while being cheered on by other participants.

At the event too, cosplayers also came out in full force, with several characters such as Star Wars’ Kylo Ren, Rey, and Darth Vader amongst many stormtroopers and other soldiers of the Empire. Marvel’s Spider Man and Deadpool, Baymax from Big Hero 6, and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty were also present.

Shortly after I had arrived at the event, I posed with several of these characters and took photos with them, soaking up the celebrations and the festive atmosphere at the same time.

Merchandise and Food Booths

I noted that there had been several booths available with assorted merchandise on sale by the Singapore Cancer Society as well as educational, information and game booths put up by the various event sponsors to impart more information to the public about the various types of cancers.

As well, I noted that a few types of food and drinks had been available too, to cater to hungry runners. There was complimentary Yakult and Sunshine bread, and the popular Milo van had made an appearance in the early stages of the event too. 

Also, available for purchase, were hot dogs, fried chicken set meals and Haagen Dazs ice cream. I bought a chocolate ice cream which cost S$2 and it tasted cold and refreshing.

President Halimah Yacob Shows Her Support

The second round of the track was then joined by the Guest of Honour, President Halimah Yacob, who also penned her encouragement message on a ribbon and pinned this on the HOPE sign.

After that, the Relay was officially flagged off at 7pm with teams of runners eagerly taking to the track, many going out aggressively and sprinting the first few rounds with lots of gusto and enthusiasm.

A great team bonding event

Runners who took part in the event, had thought that it was a great team bonding affair. 

Said Aston Peh, 55, a Foreman, “This is a fun and interesting event and I am really enjoying it here. The crowd is amazing and the feeling of being here amongst so many other like-minded people in order to make a statement against cancer, is great.”

And agreed Mieke Derooij, 48, a Business Innovation Strategist, “I did about ten rounds of the track, completing the Relay for my team and the atmosphere, dancing and stage shows here were all really good. By the end of the event, we had exceeded the 100km target, completing about 110 – 120km in all. It was a well-organised event.”

Track was congested 

But some runners however, had pointed out that the track was pretty congested, especially during the early stages of the event.

Said Pang On Tik, 48, unemployed, “The track was crowded; during the Relay, I saw two runners fall over because faster runners tried to overtake.”

And Antoine Gaudin, 24, a Consultant, agreed. He said, “It was a bit too crowded. There were four lanes open, I think that it would have been good to have had one or two additional lanes open for running in order to ease the congestion.”

He continued, “But otherwise, it was a good event, with an amazing ambience and atmosphere that is open to everyone and for a good cause too.”

Besides the track congestion issues, runners also mentioned that even though there had been a hydration point within the National Stadium premises for participants to re-hydrate with water and isotonic, this had not been located in a very accessible position.

Said On Tik, “The hydration point was so far away. And it was completely surrounded by runners waiting to take over the baton.”

As well, the event timing board, according to some, had also not been placed in a very accessible position so it was not easy for the teams to see their rankings.

Said On Tik, “The timing board moved very fast and was very far away.”

The Remember Segment 

At about 9pm, the second segment of the Relay, entitled Remember, took place, with the Stadium lights being turned off and the Stadium compounds becoming illuminated with Luminarie bags – as tribute to people who had lost their lives to cancer, honour people who had fought cancer in the past and support those whose fight continues.

I had decided to dedicate a Luminarie bag to Mum, who recently received some bad news recently, in her fight against a Grade Four glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer in her brain – because in the last couple of weeks, she has found out that her cancer has returned with a vengeance.

Runners begin to get tired

But as the long night wore on, runners began to get more tired, and some could even be seen sleeping on the picnic mats that they had brought along.

Said Antoine, “It definitely got more exhausting as the night wore on. When I was not running, I passed the time by sleeping or eating, or going to the toilet from time to time.”

Fight against cancer is an ongoing one 

But despite that, runners’ spirits continued to remain high as the event participants walked and ran alongside those impacted by cancer, in the spirit of raising awareness, providing encouragement to those impacted by the disease.

Said Tan Shao Yong, 34, a Dentist, “The fight against cancer is a long one. So for those who have cancer, it is good to have someone accompany them throughout their battle with cancer, especially in the later stages of the disease.”

And agreed Jasmine Cheong Si Min, 29, also a Dentist, “For races with a cause such as Relay For Life, this shifts the focus away from yourself and running for timing, because you are running for something much bigger, such as raising awareness for cancer research. It is always great to have these opportunities to give back to a larger cause.”

She continued “Though I do not know anyone personally who suffered from cancer, my grandpa passed away from colon cancer before I was born, so there is a bit of history of cancer in my family. Some of my team mates have family members who are battling cancer, though, so it is great to take part in this event – to support them, as well.”

Event concluded with Fight Back segment 

The 15-hour long event then concluded with the final segment, Fight Back, this morning, with Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth as the guest of honour. 

The emotionally powered ceremony inspired participants to take action and be committed in their fight against cancer.

As well, there was also a group resistance band workout for runners to stretch their tired legs.

Showing support for cancer patients through community  

Said Ang Peng Tiam, Executive Director and CEO of TalkMed Group, the title sponsor of the Singapore Cancer Society – TalkMed Relay For Life, “TalkMed supports Relay For Life because it is an important way for us to show our support for cancer patients – through the power of community.”

He continued, “And a Relay is a good metaphor for a cancer patient’s journey – it is also our philosophy at TalkMed. We pull together different specialists and medical personnel, we work together with patients and their family. We finish the race together.”

Making the Singapore Book Of Records

At the event, too, the Singapore Cancer Society also managed to make a new record for the Singapore Book Of Records for the Longest Distance Covered By A Group Of Runners in Six Hours, with a total of 14,849.2km being covered.

Event Raised over S$1 Million 

As well, the event raised over S$1 Million for the Singapore Cancer Society.

And the proceeds will be going towards providing patient care services to needy cancer patients through welfare, hospice home care, cancer treatment subsidy and rehabilitation support programmes, as well as cancer screening services and the promotion of cancer awareness and prevention through public education and community outreach programmes.

Said Mieke, “It is great to have such events to create awareness and funding for cancer research and medication as well as getting everyone together to show support to those who have been affected by cancer in some way or other.”