They may have not reached their ultimate goal yet, but Gainesville-Hall County Relay for Life organizers said there’s still time to hit the mark.

“We have collected more than $400,000 so far, but the books don’t close until Aug. 31,” said Eliza Baker, cancer society community manager.

This year, the group set a goal of $568,000 for the event, which was held on June 4 and 5 at Road Atlanta in Braselton. Last year, Baker said, an additional $100,000 came into the society’s offices after the relay was over.

“Some teams don’t stay the whole night, so we’re still collecting money,” Baker said.

“We’re also still encouraging all of our teams to continue using the online fund-raising tool and inviting their friends and family to donate to their cause.”

The event marked the second time that the relay was held at the Braselton facility. With record crowds at last year’s event, organizers tweaked their parking and event plans to help relieve some of the traffic issues.

“I haven’t heard a single complaint. It is amazing to see how much better everyone liked things this year,” Baker said.

According to event organizers, around 10,000-15,000 participants and spectators flowed through the venue’s gates during the all-night fundraiser.

Aside from a brief thunderstorm causing the event to pause for a while on Friday, Baker said everything ran like clockwork.

“There weren’t any major (problems) that I’ve heard about. A couple of cars got stuck in the mud (after the rain), but they got pulled out,” she said.

“We can’t control mother nature, but we did a pretty good job controlling the things that we could.”

Even with such a smooth event, there was one tiny problem that caught Baker’s attention.

“I heard one team member say that they were worried that since things went so well that we may grow too much and have to find a new location,” Baker said.

“Growth would definitely be an issue, but that’s a good problem to have.”