COEUR d'ALENE - It was 13 years ago when Mae Herbkersman was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.

A few years later, husband Bob was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Friday night, the Coeur d'Alene couple held hands as they walked on the pathway at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds during the Relay for Life of Coeur d'Alene.

They had beaten cancer - together.

"I feel very fortunate. I really do," said Mae, who underwent eight chemotherapy treatments and 25 radiation sessions. "I feel good."

Bob Herbkersman, smiling, said he was feeling tired as he stood next to his wife of 55 years.

"But that's more to the fact that I'm 81," he said, grinning.

Bob not only survived cancer, but endured a quadruple bypass and has a pacemaker.

"I'm on the right side of the grass," he added.

Both were wearing past purple "Survivor" shirts and have been coming to the annual event for years.

"It makes you feel good," the 77-year-old Mae said. "I don't know what there is about it. It just makes you feel good to be here and everybody is so excited about everybody being here. I think that's what it is all about."

Hundreds of cancer survivors and hundreds more volunteers were taking part in the Relay that officially began at 6 p.m. under sunny skies, and wraps up this morning.

Last year's Relay raised nearly $100,000, and organizers were hoping to top that this year. About 50 teams of volunteers planned to walk, run, skip and jump throughout the night while raising money for the American Cancer Society.

There was plenty to do to stay busy. There were games, prizes, music and a variety of food to try, with proceeds to the ACS. Many teams set up tents for a home base and a place to catch a breath.

When it turned dark, luminaria bags brightened the walkway. Most carried encouraging messages: "Believe in hope," "Keep on Buzzing," and "Hope, believe, run." One in a child's handwriting read, "Keep going, be strong, I know you can do it."

Susan Walker of Coeur d'Alene was team captain for the team from Athol Elementary, where she's a fourth-grade teacher.

Her parents, Barry and Betty Walker, died from cancer, so she said she'll do what she can to help fight the illness and find a cure.

She was determined to stay up all night.

"Every hour they announce certain things that someone with cancer is going through. That's important to me," she said, "and to be able to raise money for the ACS is huge."

Jim Tate of Hayden, a 13-year cancer survivor, was walking and watching festivities unfold Friday.

After he was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1999, he was hospitalized for a month and even fell into a coma for a short time.

"Everybody thought I was going to kick the bucket," the 72-year-old said.

Tate continues to be part of the Relay for Life and donates money, too.

"Anything to do with cancer, I do it, because I know," he said.

Likewise for Tom and Linda Bryne of Coeur d'Alene.

Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago. She survived, after a regiment of chemo and radiation.

It made her realize what matters in life, starting with family.

"It's the everyday things, the people, it's everything," she said.

Husband Tom said when cancer came calling on his wife, it changed his life.

"I almost lost my wife, don't ever want to go through that again," he said. "And there was nothing I could do to help her, except put my arms around her."

They've been married 43 years, and Linda thanks her husband for being by her side through the battle with cancer that took her hair, left her dehydrated and weak, and caused her to lose weight.

"Without him, I never would have made it. Never. It's not just the physical, it's mental. Toward the end, it's like, you can't take any more of this."

"Cancer survivors need the support,?? Tom Byrne added. "Without the support, they have no reason to keep going on. And that comes from family and their loved ones."

As the Bryneses sat and listened to music at Friday's Relay, they looked around at the volunteers and the other survivors. The Relay for Life, they said, "means everything."

"People can't do enough to help find a cure for cancer," said Tom, his arm around his wife. "It's just a devastating disease, not just to the person who catches it, but everybody associated with that person."

Linda nodded.

"You've got all these people that are just supporting you. You know that you have never been alone in this," she said.

She added there was one key people fighting cancer needed to realize: "It's not the end. There is a lot of hope out there."