Huge line up for all-night charity relay

TEAM SPIRIT: Organisers are expecting this year's turnout at the Relay for Life to exceed last year's numbers. PHOTO/FILE

A record number of teams will take part in the Cancer Society's annual Hawke's Bay Relay for Life, beginning this afternoon.

More than 80 teams, made up of more than 1300 people, are set to take part in the 20-hour event at Clive's Farndon Park.

Live entertainment, including popular cover-singing trio the Beat Girls, will entertain participants as they run and walk around the track in shifts.

The event begins at 2pm with an opening ceremony and a lap for cancer survivors and their caregivers. It continues through the night, finishing at 10am tomorrow.

Other highlights will include a Zumba session at 6am tomorrow and breakfast for participants, supplied by Greenmeadows New World and cooked by local Lions Club members.

Cancer Society NZ Hawke's Bay manager Trudy Kirk said as well as raising money through the sponsorship organised by participating teams, the relay was about raising awareness for the work the society did for people in the region with cancer.

"In previous years we've raised about $150,000 and we're well on our way to that target. It's all looking really good."