Baseball season is about to start and March Madness enters its Final Four. But the games that really matter begin tonight—at Drew University.

Teams of students will run or walk continuously all night long in a relay race that is both memorial and celebration. The American Cancer Society calls it a Relay For Life.

Tonight’s event is the first of dozens of relays being held this spring and summer in New Jersey. More than 70 in all.

At Drew, the students will pause briefly at sundown to place candles in special bags that line the track, and surround spectators. The flickering lights are a memorial to those who have fought the fight, and lost.

Cancer survivors will take a single lap alone. Then, they’ll be surrounded by team members, and go on, all through the night, running or walking. Any speed is fine; talking, singing, and eating are all part of the process.

They’ll sleep when they can—as long as someone from the team is always moving forward. “Cancer doesn’t sleep,” Marjorie Kaplan, director of media relations for the American Cancer Society, reminds us.

Like the disease they are battling, the long night is a challenge. But there is strength and power in numbers. Last year’s Relays For Life, in New Jersey alone, raised more than five million dollars. There are similar events around the country, and the world.

Tomorrow at sunrise, the students’ relay will end. Fueled by the support of family and friends, the survivors will be energized to face another day. And, as anyone who has ever battled the disease knows, it’s one day at a time.

Here’s a link for registration and information: http://community.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=c_ea_rc_home

Let the games begin.