The Knoxville Cancer Relay kickoff party takes place tonight.

The kickoff party is from 5:00-7:00 pm at Ken Locke Stadium. Backwoods Wood-Fired Pizza will provide food, with both the local and statewide cancer relay teams present. Local runners will start their first loop at 7:00 pm and will be accompanied by local first responders. 

The statewide team will head east to Muscatine right after the kickoff and begin its westward trek at the Mississippi River at 10:00 pm. The statewide team will run along Highway 92 and arrive in Knoxville in time to bring the game ball into Ken Locke Stadium for the Panthers home game tomorrow night. The team then hopes to reach the Missouri River in Council Bluffs around 9:00 pm the following day.

The Knoxville Cancer Relay has raised nearly $200,000 over its first nine years for the American Cancer Society. This year the goal is to raise $50,000.