By Patrick Baron

PONTIAC – The Livingston County Relay for Life is hoping to bring in more teams of runners to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Ashley Carroll with the Relay for Life spoke with WJEZ’s Todd Wineburner about some changes that are being implemented to this year’s event. She said while the event has traditionally started midday, it has been pushed back a bit to accommodate more people who may want to get involved.

“We had made some changes and only did a one day, then this year we’re changing the start time,” said Carroll. “Instead of at noon, we’re starting at 4 p.m. since that’s when a majority of the people show up anyway. So our event this year will be from 4 p.m. until roughly 10 p.m.”

Carroll added the weather can be a large factor in whether or not people attend. She says in the past, on good days, attendance for the Relay for Life can reach into the hundreds.

“Because we’re moving it, we’re hoping to draw a few more people than we typically do,” Carroll explained. “Usually we have around 400 people or so, give or take – it depends on the weather. Other than that, I would say normally our survivors and their caregivers can be around 200.”

Caroll noted while they have a number of teams already signed up for the day, there is still time for other teams to sign up.

“Right now, we currently have around 19 or 20 teams registered, so still pretty decent for not having a limit on the number of team members per team,” Carroll said.

The annual Relay for Life will be held on August 3 in the Pontiac Square.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].