Judy Blaszka passed away in her sleep early in the morning in late October 2009, during her daughter Gina Blaszka’s sophomore year at Syracuse University.

Gina had been sleeping on the couch nearby when her father came downstairs to check on her mother and discovered she had died. She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer during Gina’s senior year of high school.

“I couldn’t believe after such a strong fight she was gone,” Gina Blaszka said.

At the 10th annual Syracuse Relay for Life in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Gina Blaszka was among the top fundraisers, raising more than $1,700.

“Freshman year, when I dedicated a lantern to my mom, I never thought it would change from ‘In Honor’ of my mom to ‘In Memory,’” said Gina Blaszka, a graduate student in early childhood and special education.

Relay for Life is a national fundraiser for cancer research that enlists teams to fundraise and walk laps for 12 hours to honor loved ones fighting cancer. By the end of the night, the Syracuse Relay raised $114,361.23.

“Don’t for a minute underestimate the power that is in you,” Tom Wolfe, dean of Student Affairs, told the crowd during the opening speeches. “Look around at the people who have been touched by cancer, and whose lives have been altered by it.”

Wolfe, who said his father died of cancer 14 years ago, described Relay for Life as passing hope from one generation to another.

Before the participants started walking laps, Phi Delta Theta, one of the major team fundraisers of the night, offered turns on the Super Smash Bros. video game, caricatures and $2 serenades. The fraternity has been involved with Relay since it came to campus two years ago.

Stephen Collins, a senior policy studies major and fraternity president, said his younger brother Christopher was diagnosed with cancer at 7 years old. The lump on Christopher’s head initially seemed like a routine injury. A CAT scan revealed multiple tumors, including one on his leg and another that had to be removed from his optic nerve.

Collins said the tumors are contained for now. Christopher is the most resilient of the five siblings, he said, and he has “only grown bigger” since then.

Phi Delta Theta, Collins said, raised money for Relay for Life because many of the brothers have been personally affected by cancer.

Joey DiStefano, a junior environmental engineering major, was one of two “Snitches” raising money on behalf of the Quidditch team. DiStefano dressed in all yellow, with a matching headband and cape. For $2, participants could chase the Snitches around the field to try and win a prize.

“We ran through the field, we ran over people, we even ran through people’s stuff,” he said.

Immediately after the national anthem at 7 p.m., participants lined up along the edge of the field as a group of cancer survivors began the “Survivor Lap.” People crossed the field to cheer on the survivors coming around the bend.

The relay teams began their first lap at 7:30 p.m., and at 8:30 p.m. the lights went down in the Dome for the luminaria ceremony. People stood in groups by paper lanterns circling the field and faced the stage as photos of those being honored by the lanterns flashed on the Jumbotron.

Almost no one moved as the names on the lanterns were read aloud.

Participants moved silently back to the track. The pack traveling around the Dome, sparse just 15 minutes before, became dense.

But the atmosphere picked up again when Syracuse’s Final Four game came on, and the crowd roared with approval.

As participants watched the game, one runner continued to circle the track by himself. Holding a balloon poodle from one of the fundraising tables, Trevor Zalkind started running around 10 p.m. He stopped almost four hours later at 1:45 a.m.

The freshman public relations and international relations major said he heard about a woman who ran during an entire Relay for Life event. After noticing she wasn’t in the Dome, he decided to take her place.

“I had a ton of Chinese food before this and a cinnamon roll,” Zalkind said. “I brought my flamboyant running shoes though.”

He said some family friends and grandparents had died from cancer.

Many participants left before or after the game. Those who stayed remained on the field playing football and soccer to stay awake, or gathered in circles to rest, settling in for a long night.

Published on April 8, 2013 at 12:50 am

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu