Austintown Relay walkers march on through today's heat

AUSTINTOWN

Austintown’s Relay for Life was in full stride Saturday afternoon, and despite the muggy heat, the mood was upbeat.

Twenty-four white tents were grouped around the parking lot of Austintown Elementary School on Idaho Road and provided a respite for team members who continued their marathon walk around the perimeter of the lot — it would be 12 hours this year, having started at 10 a.m. and continuing until 10 p.m.

The annual event will benefit American Cancer Society programs in the community as Relays do in every other community during the spring.

Team members take turns walking, usually around a track in a stadium or gymnasium, for 12 or 24 hours straight to raise money to beat cancer.

Many cancer survivors themselves are there, starting out each Relay with the traditional victory lap.

Here, one such survivor had been Ken Reel. A beloved eighth-grade American history teacher and a girls’ basketball coach for 27 years at Canfield Middle School, he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma in February 2012.

Read more of his story and the Relay in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.