The 2023 Knoxville Cancer Relay kicked off Thursday night. 

The relay started with a party at Ken Locke stadium, where the community gathered to show support to the runners and their cause. At 7:00 the relay officially started with runners and a  police escort  for the five mile loop. Every hour for the full 24 hours, there will be runners doing the five mile loop. The state team is heading east to Muscatine to start their run, which will go the length of Iowa. They will stop in Knoxville tomorrow night to bring the game ball to the football game and then continue on to Council Bluffs.

Event organizer and runner Pat Finan discussed the importance of raising money, but also reminders their team may give to people.

“When people see us out there they might think I’ve been meaning to get my colonoscopy or I need to check my breast cancer and that sort of thing. Early detection is so key and there is many ways that we can beat cancer.”

The Knoxville Cancer Relay is one of the largest cancer fundraisers in the state of Iowa. It has raised over $200,000 over the last ten years for the American Cancer Society, and has a goal this year of $50,000.