Spectators cheered as cancer survivors walked the Victory Lap in a celebration of courage and strength at the Beamsville Relay for Life, held Friday.

Cancer survivor Sierra Collina led the way in a celebration of courage and strength during the Victory Lap to start the inaugural Beamsville Relay for Life.

It was an emotional moment as cancer survivors joined hands and launched the Beamsville Relay for Life with a Victory Lap around the track Friday night at Great Lakes Christian College.

Spectators cheered every step as they led the way in a celebration of their courage and strength. The 12-hour relay raised $22,000 and organizers are thrilled with the success of the inaugural event.

"I am stunned. It's more than I expected," co-ordinator Sandi Mansfield said Monday after the weekend event that brought 11 teams and many more spectators to spend the night together in an effort to make cancer history.

"It is not the obstacles we face but the mountains that we climb," said team member Robert Pental. A nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Hamilton, Pental said he has learned from his patients "who have shown me that the greatest sights are seen from the distances we are willing to travel inside ourselves."

Strains of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' performed by Britney Hebbourn of Fort Erie filtered across the field as the teams set up tents and prepared for the long night ahead.

"Beamsville demonstrated the meaning of the word community," said Gina Delle Rose, Fundraising Co-ordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society Niagara Unit.

"The most important thing you're doing here is declaring that cancer can be beaten. Together we're making cancer history," Delle Rose said.

Beamsville resident and 25-year cancer survivor Joyce Harrison, President of the Niagara Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society has seen the spirit that has inspired many Relay for Life runs, "and now I'm seeing it in my own community," she said Friday night. "It's fantastic."

Mansfield credited TD Canada Trust Beamsville branch manager Anna Cerino who headed up the luminary committee for the large number of candle lit bags that guided the path around the track.

"We have celebrated the victory faced by so many of our community members and we have dedicated luminaries in memory or in honor of loved ones who have battled cancer. Thank you," Mansfield said. "I want to thank everyone who participated. Without their help this would never have been possible."

Mansfield kept the momentum going through the night, inviting survivors, care givers and kids to all have a hand in shaving her head early Saturday around at 3:30 a.m.

Funds raised will go towards research, advocacy, education, prevention and support that includes matching recently diagnosed cancer patients with trained volunteers, support groups and volunteer drivers to help people get to appointments.

Last year, the society provided more than $47 million to advance leading-edge cancer research in Canada and in Ontario, is funding 35 new research grants, 96 continuing research projects and 54 clinical trials.