Cancer. Birth defects. Alzheimer's disease.

Throughout the spring, summer and fall, these walks take on a festival-like atmosphere. The air is full of hope. Participants celebrate the lives of those who are lost, rather than mourn their deaths. They look forward to a time when such walks won't be necessary.

Just about everybody can take part, whether on two legs or in a wheelchair. Most are not for the highly-trained athlete, but rather the regular person.

For those who want to take charity walks a little further, there's Team In Training, which trains people to walk or run a distance race.

Lynn Ott, of Emmitsburg, began doing Relay For Life eight years ago, after her father died of colon cancer. She has a team of 15 people, and she estimates her team has raised $80,000 over the years.

"My father-in-law just went through a surgery that two years ago was not an option," she said. "That makes me feel so good that what we're doing is benefiting people."

Relay for Life asks for teams of people to walk through the night, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Fatigue may set in, and the weather may not be perfect, but those pale in comparison to what cancer patients experience, Ott said.

"I think of what they go through on a day-to-day basis," she said.

In her first year of participating, she hoped to raise $3,000 to $5,000. She raised $6,000, and last year, her team raised $15,000.

Peggy and Gene Stitely, of Thurmont, have organized a team every year since 1998. Their son, Brent, 13, died the previous year of bone cancer. Brent had been invited to participate, but was unable to. The next year, Relay for Life fell on Brent's birthday, and the family thought that was a good way to honor him.

MARCH FOR BABIES

Walkathons got their start in the physical fitness boom of the 1970s. Back then, March of Dimes had Walk America. This started in 1970 and the distance was more than 20 miles. Walkers converged in
one central area and earned a dime for every mile they traversed.

Walk America was then shortened for mere mortals to do, and Walk Americas popped up in many localities, including Frederick. A couple of years ago, the name was replaced with March for Babies, to more accurately reflect what the walk is all about.