The two Lauras stood along the side of the track at Kansas University’s Memorial Stadium and took their first break.

Laura Lombard, a Wichita freshman, and Laura Nolle, a Naperville, Ill., freshman, had a long night of walking in circles ahead of them. They were among at least 650 KU students, faculty and staff who turned out for the first KU Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society.

“I’m kind of worried about keeping awake,” Nolle said.

“I like to be involved in things like this,” Lombard said.

Both students and many others who participated in the walk knew friends or had family members who had survived or died from cancer. They participated in teams, taking turns walking around the track from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. today.

Adrienne Rosel, a KU sophomore who organized the relay, set a goal of raising $50,000 from the event. By Thursday night pledges for $49,410 already had been made, she said.

“I am totally blown away by my fellow students,” she said.

When they weren’t walking, participants rested on the side of the hill at the south end of the stadium where a tent city had sprung up. Sleeping bags and coolers full of bottled water and soft drinks awaited.

Linda Dixon, an adviser in the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, said she was there to keep an eye on her office’s campsite and provide moral support. At least four other office workers were taking turns circling the tracks.

“We have a schedule, but I think we’re all going to just jump in whenever we feel like it,” said Kelly Thompson, a graduate assistant in the advising center.

The atmosphere at the event was more like a party, some of the participants said. Disc jockeys played music. There were games such as watermelon-seed spitting and whipped cream pie-eating contests.

“It’s a fun way to raise a lot of money for a great cause,” said Ryan Gove, another academic adviser.