Medford Relay for Life leaves lasting impact on local resident

Relay for Life holds a special place in the heart of Medford resident Mike Cashen.

In 2002, with his wife Cheryl, battling cancer, the Cashen family attended Medford Relay for Life for the first time.

Since then, they have never missed the event.

Mike and Cheryl Cashen will join hundreds of other Medford-area residents at Relay for Life. The 18-hour event will be held at Freedom Park beginning at noon on June 7 and wrapping up the morning of June 8.

The event has given Mike a reason to have hope. Five years after attending his first relay, Cashen was diagnosed with cancer himself.

“When I was diagnosed in 2007, I was going through treatment the time the relay was there,” he said. “It kinds of gives you a new lease.”

The reason Cashen has so much hope is because of the uplifting message Relay for Life features. The event emphasizes celebration, remembrance and fighting back.

Cashen struggled to describe the wave of emotions one feels throughout the day. He acknowledged the positive message gives hope to everyone from survivors to caregivers and families.

For him, the survivor’s lap of the event is one of the most special moments of the day.

“It gives you strength to carry on,” Cashen said. “When you’re told those three words, ‘you have cancer,’ your world changes.”

In many ways, Cashen described Relay for Life as an anti-cancer event. The event is filled with fun and celebratory moments. Theme laps are held throughout the night where participants can dress in goofy costumes. Contests are held in a variety of categories as well.

There is an emphasis on making Relay for Life a community event and not just one strictly for those affected by cancer.

“It’s there for everybody,” Cashen said. “You don’t have to have cancer; you don’t need to know someone who has cancer. If you get them to come once and see what it is all about, they will want to come back.”

Cashen said the event has allowed him to make numerous friends from the area whom he wouldn’t otherwise meet. The friendships he has made at Relay for Life are ones he has followed through with and kept for many years.

“It’s an amazing thing, because the whole thing is moving and changing,” Cashen said. “There’s old people there and young people. It’s a very interesting phenomena, that all of these people come together for one cause.”

Participants have been on the fundraising trail for the last few weeks. All proceeds raised at the event go toward the American Cancer Society.

People who haven’t already registered are still invited to come. Cashen encourages residents who haven’t attended before to stop by. While he has many great memories from the past 12 years, he admits they don’t do justice to actually attending the event.

“Whoever you are, cancer is going to touch you are at some point,” Cashen said. “It’s really good to know this type of environment exists there so people can say they’re not alone.”