It is time to put on your running or walking shoes and lace up for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event that is coming to Phoenixville on Saturday April 30th writes Justin Heinze for the Phoenixville Patch

The Relay for Life movement hosts event across the country and encourages communities to get together to help support the fight against cancer. Through the help of students and volunteers the event in Phoenixville will be a community fundraising walk where teams gather together around the track at Phoenixville High School and team members take turns running or walking.

So far twenty-one teams and 169 participants are signed up for the event and have already raised over $19,000. The event will be fun for the entire family and will include games, entertainment and food.

Relay for Life began in 1985, when Dr Gordy Klatt both ran and walked for 24 hours around a track in Tacoma, WA, raising $27,000 for the American Cancer Society. Following in his footsteps, more than 340 supporters joined in the next year, founding the Relay for Life movement.

Since its inception the event has raised more than $5 billion to fight cancer and thanks to the support of student volunteers at Relay for Life events across the country, the American Cancer Society is helping to save more than 500 lives from cancer every day.

Relay for life, Phoenixville, will begin at 10 a.m. and run or walk until midnight   

Find out all the details of the event on the Phoenixville Patch here and register to participate here.