Hundreds of Iberia Parish residents will be carrying batons and walking laps of the New Iberia Senior High School track not to earn gold or silver medals, but in hopes of scoring a victory against a different type of opponent — cancer.

For the 13th consecutive year, the Iberia Parish American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser will bring together cancer survivors, friends and family members to raise money to fight a disease that affects nearly one out of three people in the United States.

The relay takes place from 6 p.m. May 6 to 6 a.m. May 7, providing 12 straight hours of walking, interactive events and most important, remembrance.

“We relay at night to show that cancer never sleeps,” said Janet Prioux, the event’s ‘Assistant Coach’ and cancer survivor.

More than 200 participants will be spread across 21 teams that will each have their own unique theme during the event, Kay Wolf said.

Wolf, the team captain of AGLA Protectors, said the relay’s overall theme is “Tackling Cancer,” where each team will be able to dress up as a different football team.

“We have LSU, UL, etc.,” Wolf said. “Nobody is allowed to be the Saints because that will be the team at the survivor’s tent.”

Survivors are the mainstay of the event, with the kickoff to the whole relay being a Survivor’s Lap at 6:30 p.m., where all cancer survivors are honored as they take the first official lap of the relay.

“It has become a way of life for me. We live for relay,” Prioux, 56, said.

Prioux is a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed in August 2001 and declared in remission in January 2002.

She said she first participated in the event in 2000 when she had a brother who was diagnosed with melanoma, ask her to walk.

Soon, she said that the relays would take on a much higher significance when she came down with her own version of the disease.

“Little did I know a year later, I would be relaying for myself.”

Along with the survivors’ lap, there are many other unique events that will keep participants occupied.

Wolf said that the traditional Luminary Celebration will start at 9 p.m., where people can buy bags for $10 to honor those who have lost or those who are currently fighting against the disease.

There will also be a slideshow of pictures of past participants and loved ones shown throughout the night, Wolf said.

“We were the first parish to do a slideshow and now other parishes are catching on,” Wolf said.

The relay itself is the largest fundraiser of the year for the American Cancer Society, according to the society’s Web site.

“It is a unique event that offers everyone in the community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer,” the society’s Web site said. “The event remembers those who have lost the fight against cancer and honors those who have survived.”

The idea of the relay began in 1985 by Dr. Gordy Klatt, a surgeon in Tacoma, Wash., who ran around a track for 24 hours to raise money for ACS.

Today, more than 3.5 million people in more than 5,000 communities around the country participate.

Wolf said the Iberia Parish relay has a goal of $37,000 and is hopeful it will be met by the time the sun rises May 7.

For Prioux, however, the reason to do relay is not just for numbers and statistics, but rather the imagery that can shake a person to their core.

“When you see a mother and father pushing a child in a stroller hooked up to a chemotherapy machine, that’s why you relay,” Prioux said.