man team' formed for Relay

Staff Writer

During a recent session at Relay for Life Team Captains' University, Torance Inman said he and Gary Lindler noticed that out of 300 people present, only five men were there who were not staff members.

“Gary (team captain at Grace United Methodist Church) looked at me and said, ‘Where are all the men?' Inman remembers.

In his mind, Inman, who is co-chairman of the local Relay, coupled the absence of men with the fact that Union County has the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the state.

“That made me want to do something to get more men involved in Relay for Life,” he said.

Inman, who chaired the Relay for many years, said he thinks Union County's event is diverse, with a mixture of young and old, African American and white and men and women participating. But still there was room for improvement.

So, he formed the “100 Man Team,” which will participate in the Relay the evening of Friday, May 30, carrying over into the morning of May 31.

“I wanted to make sure it had never been done before,” he said. “No one can tell me across the country in American Cancer Society circles if they had ever heard of an all man team.”

Inman identified men who were not already a member of a Relay for Life team and invited them to join his team, including every male member of city and county councils. The only requirement is that each man agrees to raise $100.

“We're going to do it the manly way; we're going to write a check,” Inman said with a laugh. “We're asking each to step up to the plate like a man and donate $100. We will gather together at the Relay get behind banner and at least 100 of us will take a lap together and as many as can will stay all night.”

Lindler said he thinks the team is an excellent idea.

“The key is that it's 100 men who have never been involved with a Relay team,” he said. “It would be really easy to pull 100 men out of the crowd and put them on the track to walk.”

Inman said when he was recruiting for the team, most of the men with whom he talked were unaware of Union County's prostate cancer rate.

“If we are successful and get 100 men to make a lap and generate $10,000, we can put the brag out and challenge other counties,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to bring attention to men's cancer issue and to encourage these men to get involved with another Relay team or start their own team. If 50 of them would start a team we would be #1 in the nation in fund raising efforts easily.”

Inman said he thinks the team will give Union County national recognition within the American Cancer Society as a “DGI.”

“A darn good idea,” he said. “Because it's never been done before.”