12/14/10 Update:

Our minimum goal: $6500 • Combined total raised to date: $7803!

After 2 knee surgeries and a year of physical therapy, Jon finished the race brilliantly. No injuries. Yippee!

As for Mo, after 8 years of finishing endurance races, I finally bonked in a race. I began feeling ill at mile 9 and pushed on to mile 18 before deciding - in consultation with medical personnel on the course - that it was not my day. We were running in 80% humidity and a lot of people left the course in ambulances. I was still standing, and despite the blow to my ego, will live to race another day.

Thank you all for donating to save lives. The cancer patients who will benefit are the real winners.

XOX

Mo and Jon

PS If you have not donated, it is not too late.

In case you haven’t heard, Jon and Mo are back in training. After a crazy year involving 2 knee surgeries and months of physical therapy, Jon is in great form, and we are both running the Honolulu Marathon on December 12th!

Were meniscus tears in both knees an indicator that we should stop? Haven’t we done enough? We don’t think so. There are many miles left to go in the quest to cure cancer.

Fortunately Jon’s fabulous orthopedic surgeon, Scott Powell, agrees. In a former life, Dr. Powell was “Santini” of the rock group Sha Na Na. (Really! There are concert posters and gold records all over his office.) Jon was the Music Director for the Sha Na Na TV show so they had a great reunion. But we digress...The point is that Jonny can run all 26.2 miles this year!

We continue to run for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society because:

• On April 17, Jon’s friend and colleague, David Blumberg - who arranged Gloria Gaynor's #1 record "I Will Survive” and many other hits - lost his battle with lymphoma. He was dearly loved and is greatly missed.

• We have lost many other loved ones to cancer including Jon’s sister Wendy Charles Acey; our friends Angela Morley, John Arrington, Jeanette Cissell, Debbie Berton, and Melanie Fastrup; Jon’s aunt and uncle Audrey and Sibley Newman; Mo’s grandmother Mary Scott; Mo’s uncle Jim Flowers; 7-year-old Andrew Meyers and 4-year-old Jeffrey Virostek; and even our dear cat, Gert.

• An estimated 912,938 Americans are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. Every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, one of them dies.

• Since we started running, contributors to our fundraising efforts have sent us over 120 names of cancer patients whom you wish to honor — names we carry with us every step of our 26.2 mile run.

Please give again this year in their honor. We recognize that for most people, money is tighter than ever. We ask that you take extraordinary action and donate anyway. Imagine how much harder it would be if you or your child were battling cancer in this recession.

Cancer patients and their families need financial assistance, peer support, and most of all, effective therapies and treatments. Your donation will directly assist families with the shortfall.

The funds we raise also go toward research. Our friend Virginia is alive today because she was part of a clinical study funded by LLS. The study was for Gleevec, a drug that made her leukemia chronic rather than fatal. The money you donated saved Virginia’s life. You have in fact saved thousands of lives.

Please continue to give generously — more than is comfortable. Whether that is $5, $50 or $500, your tax-deductible contribution will make a difference. Our fundraising deadline is fast approaching.

If you prefer, you can mail a check. Just ping me for the address.

Be sure to include the name(s) of loved ones whom you would like us to honor and we will carry them on marathon day. If your company has a MATCHING GIFT PROGRAM, please include the appropriate form with your donation.

At age 64, Jon continues to run, and you continue to give, and we are forever grateful for your generosity and for the opportunity to make this kind of difference.

We love you,

Mo and Jon