NORWICH – Cancer, with due cause, has slipped into the drawer of commonly held beliefs as a hardship that everyone can expect to encounter in a lifetime, one way or another.

It seems the only steady trend in the indiscriminate world of cancer is in fact the ups and downs that are associated with it; the triumphant victories over the disease are often subdued by anguishing defeats.

Friday when the American Cancer Society holds its 10th Annual Norwich Relay for Life, organizers and participants hope to literally and symbolically remind all that fear, apathy and loss can be overcome; and that controlling our collective destiny with cancer is not impossible.

“It’s a celebration of life,” said Relay Cancer Survivor Committee chair and participant Jo Ann Winsor. “It celebrates those continuing to survive after this tragic illness, and those who are currently battling it.”

Participants have been forming teams and gathering donations for weeks and months. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. the relay will begin with a survivor lap, a lap from care-givers, and then each team member will walk in several half-hour to one hour increments through noon Saturday.

The relay takes place on the track at the Chenango County Fairgrounds on East Main Street in Norwich.