Running My Butt Off For a Cure!

Welcome to my Team In Training website!

So I completed a half marathon in Fairfield, CT in June of 2009 with Team in Training, and now I'm back for my 2nd event! I've recruited 2 other TNT participants for the NJ half marathon and the Fairfield Half. And this year I've committed more of my time and energy to Team in Training by becoming a mentor! My big event in 2010 is the Mayor's Half Marathon in Anchorage, AK in June! I'm so excited for Alaska!!! My parents are going out there as well to show their support and to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary!! And my bff, Summer, who lives in Florida, is also coming out to cheer me on! I have my own street team!!

I have found a passion in Team In Training that I just haven't found with other organizations! I have made lifelong friends who are out there running, cycling, hiking and swimming, all to raisie money and awareness in the battle against blood cancers. Some are family of those who lost their battle with a blood cancer. Some are family members of survivors and others are survivors themselves, which I find absolutely inspiring! Our collective goal with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is to find a cure for blood cancers in 5 years! Yes, you read that right...5 years....we're talking 2015 here people!

Team in Training is the largest fundraising organization within the LLS and has raised over 1 billion dollars and trained over 420,000 athletes! I'm so proud to be one of them! There are few things in life that we are able to say are life-changing...this is absolutely one of those things in my life. And I'm running again in honor of Chris Wilson, who is battling Leukemia with the support of his wonderful family and a very close community back in Vermont! He is my inspiration to get up in the morning and brave the elements, to put one foot in front of the other when my muscles ache, to keep pushing forward up those hills. None of this is as bad as what he endures with chemo and blood tests and trips back and forth to Dartmouth-Hitchcock. And none of what I'm doing comes close to what his family must be going through all while maintaining an outward strength for Chris's sake.

The Alaska TEAM's honored teammate this season is Jamie Botteon, of Bristol, CT, who is battling AML, the same form of leukemia that took the life of her older brother, Wade, 8 years ago. Ironically, Wade's birthday was the same day as mine. Jamie is currently undergoing chemotherapy and her family is coping with going through this nightmare a second time - like being struck by lightening twice. We try to inspire her with our training for serious endurance events, and she inspires us with her battle against leukemia. Jamie lives in the same town I live in. She plays on the same premier soccer teams as the daughter of a doctor I work with. Things like this hit close to home. Everyone knows someone with cancer, and leukemia affects more children than any other form of cancer.

So I need to raise over $5000 to help kids like Chris and Jamie and to accomplish my goal and complete my endurance event in Alaska. 25% of the fundraising minimum covers my travel, hotel accommodations, race registration, etc. 75% of that minimum goes directly to the LLS mission funding research and patient services. Every dollar that I raise above and beyond my fundraising minimum goes directly to mission - 100%.

I'm not walking around the park 3 times folks. I'm not running a 5k (3.1 miles). I'm running 13.1 miles. I was shooting for a full at 26.2, but injuries are preventing me from working towards that goal right now. So while you're sitting on your couch watching TV or surfing the web, playing around on facebook, think of me out there running my butt off to find a cure! And whip out your checkbook or your credit card or roll the coins in your piggy bank, bring in your returnable bottles/cans and cash in the refund and show your support for my efforts and for this wonderful cause! Hey, if you're gonna sit on the couch then pony up the dough!! :) Otherwise, get up, get movin' and join me pounding some pavement!

Please BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTION in whatever way you can and make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often and that you forward this link to your friends and family. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for much or your support and generosity!

GO TEAM!!!