The Morgan-Hartselle Relay for Life ended a little earlier than they had anticipated, but event organizers are still declaring it was a success.

According to the event’s website, the event took in about $64,916.47. Bobby Smith, community representative for the American Cancer Society, said they are still continuing to work toward their goal of $101,000 by Aug. 31.

He attributed the shortfall to the inclement weather that forced the event to shut the 12-hour event about three hours after it began.

“We just weren’t going to take any chances when we started to see lightning,” Smith said. “We can handle the rain OK, but when it starts thunder and lightning, we just had to go ahead a shut it down. We didn’t want anyone to get injured.”

Despite the weather situation, Smith said they had “thousands” of people come out to J.P. Cain Stadium to participate in Relay. A total of 45 teams also participated.

“Everyone came out and supported this great cause on Friday night,” Smith said. “It seemed like everyone was there. It was just like having a football game on Friday night. I can’t put an exact number on how many people were there.

“We even had several that came over from the ball fields after their games were over on Friday night,” he added. “We just wish the weather would have held up.”

Because the event ended early, Smith said they weren’t able to launch the nearly 150 Relay for Life lanterns, which were purchased by donors in memory of loved ones.

“We’re planning to have another ceremony somewhere in the community, maybe at E.A.R.T.H. Park or somewhere else, to launch those lanterns,” Smith said.

No date has been set as of yet.