Friday night people gathered for the 10th annual 'Relay for Life' walk in West Seattle Stadium, raising money to find a cure for cancer. 20 teams of people came out this year, almost twice that of last year. King County Executive Dow Constantine was on hand to get the event started.

The walk goes through the night, lasting 18 hours in all. Participants pitch tents and make the field their home for the night, as team members take turns walking around the track.

There were events throughout the evening, including bingo for the kids, and a candle ceremony where the entire track is lined with bags decorated for people who have last their lives to cancer. The names of those being honored were later read aloud for all to hear.

At 10 p.m. on Friday the candles inside the bags were lit, illuminating the entire track.

Participating in the event was Elise Mackley who was there because, "My cousin who is about 13, going on 14 has bone cancer and she designed the shirt we're wearing. Her initials are on the shirt," she said. She planned on trying to walk as "as long as we can" and previously had set up lemonade stands, and sold T-Shirts raising several hundred dollars. She's part of "Team Go For It", and "They are doing a great job," said Team Development Chair Rebecca Polivy, "The Platinum Team raised over $5,000 this year."

The event was founded 10 years ago by West Seattleite Kevin Wooley and originally was staged at the Seattle Center. His own life was touched by cancer when in 1996 his wife was diagnosed with lymphoma . They participated in the Seattle Relay for Life but then, "I got a flyer from the American Cancer Society that said, 'We want to start up a West Seattle Relay. So come to a meeting.' So I came to the meeting and it was just me and the person from the ACS at the time," he said. "I just think it's great that we're doing something in the fight against cancer and supporting people that have cancer," he said. His wife, now cancer free was at the event, along with their two sons. "I'm happy to say my 13 year old is here at the event and my 10 year old daughter who was born after my wife went through her treatment. We're very lucky and very blessed to have lots of friends and community members who have come out to support this through the years."

Event Co-Chairs Patrick Jablonski and Lauren Blair were very happy with this year's turnout even though they didn't get much sleep. "We got about 2 hours each," Jablonski said, "I'd say this year went better than expected. We had dramatic improvement from last year and a ton of new people." Blair said, "I'm just really excited that we got so many more new teams. We also really dove into the community this year to try and get ourselves known."

The top fundraiser for the West Seattle Relay for Life, 2010 was David Cox, and the top fundraising team was "Bee for Life."
Rookie team of the year team was "Team Go For It."
Most spirited team was "Team Handlebar"

Current total of funds raised? $52,511.30 with 182 participants.

They are still accepting donations through the website. If you or someone you know has been touched by cancer, this is the time to donate what you can.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT