They walked, they celebrated, they walked, they remembered, they walked, they ate, and they walked some more.

The eighth annual Langley Relay for Life took place Friday night and into Saturday morning, as more than 700 members of 86 teams took part in the 12-hour event to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society.

Lynne Robinson of the Langley Township team was the survivor leader this year. She had been taking part in the Langley Relay for two years when she was herself diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in 2008.

After chemotherapy and hair loss, she heard what she called four of the most beautiful words: "no evidence of disease."

Robinson returned to the Relay two years ago with a yellow shirt, the mark of a cancer survivor, for a rainy Relay event.

"I was grateful for the rain, because it hid my tears," Robinson told the crowd. "But they weren't just tears of sadness."

Walking with the other survivors also made her feel strong, she said.

This year, the Grove Turtles team member Rachel Wallace was the top fundraiser, with $9,700 in donations to the Canadian Cancer Society.

The New Beginnings team was the top-fundraising group, with $24,543 - an even more impressive total considering they actually had to scale back their fundraising after a key member was herself diagnosed with cancer this year.

In total, the 2012 Langley Relay for Life raised $277,000, said chair Howie Vickberg. Over eight years it has raised $2.5 million, and is the third largest Relay in B.C. and one of the top 10 in Canada.