University of Wisconsin students and others raised more than $120,000 at the annual Relay for Life event, held Friday night through Saturday morning at the UW Shell.

About 115 teams participated in the event to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, a nationwide voluntary health organization devoted to fighting cancer and its effects on communities.

The event began with an opening ceremony, where cancer survivors spoke about their experiences and walked around the Shell track.

Later, relay participants walked around the track in teams, watched performances and generally celebrated their accomplishments.

Attractions included a hypnotist, tug-of-war, basketball, dance performances, food and board games.

The event lasted from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

“It was really fun just to be with my friends and other students just all gathered there for a great cause and to celebrate what we had accomplished,” said UW sophomore and Team MonSTARS member Joey Mueller. “I thought it was really enjoyable and just rewarding.”

Mueller said his team made the goal of having someone walk on the track at all times. Team members signed up for half hour timeslots and switched off walking around the building for the entirety of the 12-hour event.

UW sophomore Courtney Buss led the team Go the Distance, which raised $5,700.60 to go toward Relay for Life.

She said fundraising was a pretty simple process as almost the entirety of their efforts were done online. She sent out an e-mail to team members urging them to ask their family and friends for donations, which could be entered at an online site.

Go the Distance also held a spaghetti dinner and collected further funds at the event, according to Buss.

Buss said the event was especially powerful because cancer is a problem that influences everyone in our society.

“It was pretty amazing to see all those people there for one single cause,” Buss said. “I know I’ve been affected pretty personally by cancer in the past year, so it was really powerful for me.”

She went on to say she thinks a lot of high school students and younger college students do not realize the extent of the reach cancer has, but as we age it becomes more and more obvious that cancer really does affect everyone.

Overall, Buss said she was impressed by the level of student participation in the event, and urged other students to get involved next year.

Mueller agreed, and said “if people want to be a part of it, they definitely should look into it. I definitely think I’m going to do it next year as well.”

Students interested in donating to the American Cancer Society or participating in Relay for Life in 2010 are encouraged to visit the UW site at www.relayforlife.org/uwmadison.