SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Last week, for the first time in his life, Dennis Porteous spent hours walking laps - and not just for exercise.

The 63-year-old was one of 30 cancer survivors who walked the track outside William McDonald middle school in Yellowknife's 5th annual Relay for Life cancer fundraiser last Friday from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The event was Porteous' first, but he said it won't be his last.

Breast cancer survivor Sheila "Rusty" Templeman, left, flew in from Winnipeg to walk Yellowknife's Relay for Life cancer fundraiser on Friday night. While on the track Templeman met Duff Spence and three-year-old Decker Mujtis. - Katie May/NNSL photo

"Being a cancer survivor, I have to set an example," he said after stepping off the track for a break between laps. "If I can do it, the rest of you can do it."

In April 2007 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, a shock he didn't see coming.

"I never had anything wrong with me all my life. And then all of a sudden the colonoscopy's done and they say, 'You have a massive cancer cell on your colon.'"

Today, Porteous, who collected pledges with a team of family and friends known as the "Crazy Canucks," says he feels just as healthy as he did before his surgery and he's going to keep participating in the relay for as long as he's able.

"You have to be positive and get realistic that the fact is you never know if it will come back."

Roughly 250 people basked in the midnight sun while participating in the event, collecting more than $134,000 for cancer research through personal pledges and corporate donations.

Event co-ordinator Bianca Jorgenson said relays throughout the NWT raised $326,000 in total this year.

"It was a very successful year for NWT," she said. "Yellowknife is a last-minute town," she laughed. "We pulled it together in the last minute."

The DeBeers-sponsored team was this year's top fundraiser, collecting $43,000 and going by the name "I walk the line."