They’ll be running through the streets tonight, and all day tomorrow, during the Knoxville Cancer Relay.

Teams of runners will go through town starting every hour on the hour from Ken Locke Stadium; each group of runners will follow a five-mile course looping past each of the schools, and the money raised from pledges will go towards the Coaches vs. Cancer Fund.

Knoxville Mayor Brian Hatch will be among those running shifts for these 24 hours. He tells KNIA/KRLS News one difficult aspect is being out at night; but he says the runners take the necessary precautions.

“Try to be as safe as possible; everybody wears reflective vests, headlamps, stuff like that,” Hatch says. “Most of the guys out there are pretty avid runners, and most of them are out there in the early morning or late night hours on their own running, so they know how to take care of themselves when they’re out on the course.”

Hatch says it also gets to be grueling as the event wears on; the payoff comes on Friday night, as the runners end the relay by bringing out the game ball for the evening’s football game between Knoxville and Oskaloosa.

The relay starts from Ken Locke Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night, preceded by a kick-off party at 6:00 p.m. The KNIA/KRLS Big Red Radio will be there, playing music and making announcements to the crowd.