For 24 hours, La Jollans will gather together to fight cancer. On June 25 and 26, Relay for Life is coming to La Jolla, staging an all-out war against the disease at University City High School. Representing the reality that cancer never sleeps, the event teams up participants to run a relay for one day and one night around the school’s track. At last year’s event, La Jolla High School water polo coach Tom Atwell, a cancer survivor himself, surprised organizers and participants by running 100 miles around the track in honor of his wife’s battle — and victory — over breast cancer. Atwell, who has been cancer-free for 12 years, said aggressive, experimental chemotherapy saved his life and his leg, which doctors said would surely have been amputated without the newer form of therapy. It took two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation to take care of the sarcoma on his hip, and he credits the work of the American Cancer Society and the research it funds as the reason he will be able to run 100 miles again at this year’s event. “It was because of organizations like the American Cancer Society and people making even the smallest donations that funding was available for research on improved treatment techniques that have allowed me to live, have children and continue to train,” he said. Nationwide, the event brings together more than 3.5 million people. The event was born in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon from Tacoma, Wash., walked and ran around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Participants can now join events across the country to honor survivors, pay tribute to those who have been lost and raise money for the cause. Relay for Life La Jolla begins with an opening ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday. Survivors of the disease will take a ceremonial lap around the track at 5 p.m., and a luminaria ceremony, in which hundreds of luminarias honoring loved ones’ battles with cancer, will be lit around the track. The fight back/closing ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Atwell will again be in attendance, this time joined by San Diegan Clay Treska, an Ironman triathlete and cancer survivor. Treska was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008. After a round of chemotherapy, the cancer seemed to be gone, and Treska started training for and Ironman triathlon. Shortly after he began his training, the cancer came back, this time in a stage four terminal form. Against odds, Treska beat the cancer and went on to complete 2010 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. “The Relay for Life is a great way to celebrate what the American Cancer Society is all about,” Atwell said. “I always like to emphasize how critical we all are in this effort. Every time someone donates a few dollars, races a 5K, joins a team at the relay and raises a little money, each of these small steps contributes to the whole that has been critical in saving the lives of people like my wife and I. I hope that I can contribute back in some way to honor of all those who have contributed to the American Cancer Society and in honor of those being affected by cancer.”