It's the last lap around the track for thousands of participants. Bakersfield's 21st annual Relay for Life celebration was one for the record books.
"We wanted to break last year's record so that we can continue to be number one in the world,” said Git Patel, the Relay sponsorship chair. “We are number one per capita in the world, thank you Bakersfield for what you do.”
The relay teams raised more than $2.1 million, and the top team raised more than $320,000.
"That's quite a lot of money,” Patel said. “Quite a lot of passion and quite a lot of hard work and commitment from people who want to raise money for Relay to find a cure, and we're always fighting to find a cure."
17s Kiyoshi Tomono and Tami Mlcoch busted a move on stage as the closing ceremony emcees. After 24 hours of walking, many still were not tired.
“It was really fun but at the end we just passed out because we were running around the whole relay for life playing tag" Nicholette Spells, a 10-year-old Relay for Life camper. “Relay is just a cool thing because you get have fun and raise money at the same time.”
Spells says she and her family struggled to stay awake last night, and she won a gold fish in one the Relay's games.
"It was fun because you don't just have to sit here and just watch what they're doing up there,” said Mackenna Hoffman. “They still have stuff for the little kids and a lot neat events throughout the night.”
Hoffman says half her family died from cancer. The Ink for a Cure team can relate.
"Five years ago, I lost my daughter Ondria to brain cancer,” said Donna Wruck. “Very swift, very quickly and very detrimental to the entire family."
This was the team's first time staying overnight.
"We're dirty, we're tired,” Jenn Stuart, the Ink for a Cure team captain. “I don't know if anyone out here has brushed their teeth, we all look like we've definitely been out here for 24 hours."
The relay site now, looks the total opposite of when it was filled with more than 20,000 people, and organizers say they're already planning next year's.
"We may not be the best city in the world to live in,” Stuart says. “But as a community, we definitely come out and we do it big for cancer.”
