DERRY — It was nothing short of a miracle and many people wanted to take — or give — credit for it, but the sun did chase the clouds away for the entire Greater Derry and Londonderry Relay for Life 18-hour event that began Friday evening at 6 and ended Saturday at noon.

"My nickname is the rain goddess," said Co-Chairwoman Cathy Goldthwaite during the opening ceremonies.

Many said they prayed for the clear skies and many said their loved ones, lost to cancer, were reflected in the welcome rays.

This is the American Cancer Society's 25th year for Relay for Life, which began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma surgeon, spent 24 hours running on a local track to raise money for his local ACS chapter.

The opening ceremonies on Friday's event in Derry included words of encouragement from Gov. John Lynch who was invited by the New Hampshire chapter's Advocacy Chairwoman Norma Jean Gecks of Derry. Gecks, a cancer survivor had invited Lynch to last year's event when she heard the state was cutting funding for cancer programs. Lynch had a full schedule and was unable to attend last year, but promised he would do his best to come this time around.

Goldthwaite and her fellow co-chairwoman, B.J. Allgaier said that this was the last year they would be chairing the event and hinted for someone to take over.

Here are some vignettes from this year's event:

Team Cam was formed to support 13-year-old Cameron Riley, of Derry, who was diagnosed with acute T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in November of 2007. Cam is in remission and is back playing Little League baseball after missing all of his last season.

Chester native Gary Aramini, who now lives in North Carolina, formed Team Quiet Thunder and ran 60 miles during last weekend's event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his run across country in memory of his best friend Billy Clay who lost his battle with cancer the year before Aramini's run.

Bob Baines, President of Chester College of New England and a former Manchester mayor, spoke about the "power of community" at events like Relay. "I believe the day will come when we do not have to have events like this," he told this year's Relay participants.

A team of laboratory employees from Parkland Medical Center created green T-shirts just the night before Relay in memory of a co-worker, Barbara DiLorenzo, who lost a seven-year battle with cancer on June 13. DiLorenzo, 62, had worked at Parkland for 32 years. "She was the life of the party," said Laboratory Director Cathy Ayres. "She kept us in stitches all the time."

This was the third year for the team Radical Runners, with members from Derry and Chester, who participate for a friend whose little brother has cancer.

Londonderry High School had four teams of Lancers participating, one for each grade.

Lori Driscoll of Derry made a throw-size quilt that was raffled during Relay for her team Hawaiian Haven. Driscoll created the quilt with old Relay for Life T-shirts and patterns of purple ribbons. The raffle raised $426 that brought the team's total to $1,900.

DERRY/LONDONDERRY RELAY BY THE NUMBERS

Number of teams — 92

Number of participants — 700

Number of survivors — 115

Number of luminaria bags — 1,026

Amount raised to date — $190,000

(Donations are still being accepted at www.relayforlife.org/derryandlondonderynh)

Visit www.derrynews.com for a slideshow of images from Relay for Life.