Participants of SMU’s third annual Relay For Life fundraiser will take over the Boulevard Friday night, many setting up tents and settling in for a night of fundraising and hope.

The relay will begin at 7 p.m. Friday and continue through 7 a.m. Saturday. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the American Cancer Society.

Relay teams consist of four or more people. Team members will take turns walking or running laps around the Boulevard all night. Each team is required to raise $100 per teammate or $800 per team, whichever is greater. Many teams and individuals surpass these requirements.

In Relay For Life’s first year at SMU, 40 teams and 315 registered participants raised over $80,000 for the American Cancer Society. Last year an increase in registered teams and participants raised a total of $85,000.

So far this year, $50,000 has been raised online alone, but totals won’t be known until after the run. Well over 500 participants and 59 teams are registered. Organizers set a goal of $110,000 for the 2006 program.

Relay for Life began 21 years ago when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a surgeon from Tacoma, Wash. decided to help raise money for his local American Cancer Society office. In May of 1985, Klatt circled the track at the local University of Puget Sound for 24 hours while friends and neighbors paid $25 to walk or run with him.

More than 80 miles and $27,000 later, Klatt decided to make the run an annual event, but had no idea that decades later groups all over the country would continue the run and the fight to cure cancer.

Registration for the 2006 relay at SMU is available until 7 p.m. Friday. Fees include registration in addition to fundraising goals. For more information about SMU’s Relay For Life program, or to register or make a donation, visit www.smurelay.com.