If bigger and better was what Relay for Life organizers hoped for this past weekend then they got their wish and then some.

By the end of the Covington-Maple Valley-Black Diamond Relay June 2-3 at Kentwood the number of participants was nearly twice as many as in 2011 and the number of teams nearly doubled, as well.

Co-chair Lacy Parker said Monday that the event far exceeded her expectations.

“I’m in shock and in awe and inspired, just amazed at all the support,” Parker said. “Just watching everyone have fun, watching everyone get into it, especially with a lot of new teams this year and now knowing how they would accept what was going on.”

The amount of money raised also exceeded what the event brought in a year ago by nearly $20,000 as the total on Sunday afternoon came to $73,301. That total could go up, however, as donations can be accepted until August.

When she saw how much had been raised, Parker said, she was moved.

“I actually started crying tears of joy,” she said. “Janet and I, our goal was $63,000, so to bring over $10,000 at the event alone, I am at a loss for words.”

Money raised at the event goes to provide services for cancer patients in the Puget Sound region via the American Cancer Society.

The evening was punctuated by an appearance by the Tahoma High school pep band drum line. A video of the performance can be found online at the Relay’s Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/maplevalleyrelay.

“I have to give a huge shout out to the Tahoma drum line,” Parker said. “It was darn cool. You’ve already been there for quite a few hours walking. Midnight comes around and people are kind of wearing out. This is my sixth year doing this event and never in all those years have I seen that many people on the track in the wee hours of the morning.”

This year’s event, led by co-chairs Parker and Janet Swisher, featured two significant changes over past years: an earlier date on the calendar as well as a new venue.

Moving the event to early June and from Tahoma Junior High to Kentwood seemed to have the desired effect.

“I think the biggest highlight now that I look back on it was simply the positive feedback about the change in our location,” Swisher wrote in an email interview Monday. “People were able to find us better, knew exactly where we were and were able to easily see us from the roads. I suspect that we had some people drop in to the event simply from driving by and seeing the event in progress.”

There were more than 40 teams, with more than 400 participants, up from 26 teams a year ago with some 200 more in attendance than in 2011.

“I am still reeling from the event in the best possible way and am still amazed at the huge turnout and positive feedback that we received from our event,” Swisher wrote. “It goes to show you that hard work, perseverance and having a spectacular committee behind you will pay off. We had the largest turnout our event has ever experienced.”

For Swisher, a cancer survivor who first signed up for Relay from her hospital bed during a 36-hour chemotherapy treatment, the event felt a bit like a scene out of the 1988 film “Field of Dreams,” when Kevin Costner’s character was told “If you build it, they will come.”

“I felt like we spent the last 6 months or so building the structure for a great Relay and when Saturday arrived, they really did show up and in droves,” Swisher wrote. “It was so amazing to see our vision come to fruition and to hear how happy everyone was with everything that we had done. I know that some people not involved in Relay may think that our only goal is to raise money for the American Cancer Society, but it is also about the physical and emotional experience of Relay: raising funds, but also coming together on that track with that common bond of paying tribute to our survivors and those who have been lost as well as bond with others who have experienced the effects cancer can have on a family and community. Camping out on a track, walking and showing that dedication throughout the night when it would be so much easier to just donate money and call it good:  that’s the difference. Cancer doesn’t sleep and neither did we!”

Swisher and Parker made a two-year commitment to serve as chairs of the event.

Parker, however, said if it weren’t for all the committee members Relay would not have been near the success it was this year.

“We had a really strong committee this year,” she said. “We have set the bar high. We’re going to need more committee members … so we can just continue to grow. We need the committee to be bigger, better and stronger.”

Given how well this year’s Relay for Life went, Parker may just get what she wished for again in 2013.