Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I have registered to participate in a half marathon in San Diego, CA in June as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

I am doing this for several reasons, one being to raise funds for a good cause and to run in honor of a co-workers daughter, Jacey Caroline Magyar. The other reason and one dear to my heart is in memory of my granddaughter, Ryan Elizabeth Watts, who was stillborn in November of 2010. Since that time, my daughter and our family have another mission, to raise awareness for families dealing with stillbirth and other infant losses. It is called Runnig with Ryan and all funds raised go to four infant losses related charities.

In the last year I have participated in three 5k races without really training. I totally walked the first one and walk/ran the other two. The half is a huge step up, but with the help of TNT, I plan to be ready for it, even if I have to walk/run it. I actually started training on my own the last week of December and have been successful so far to stay with it and have actually dropped a few pounds. Our official TNT training starts January 28th. Wish me luck. I will try to update this site every week or so if you would like to keep track of how it is going. If you think you might be interested in LLS TNT, anyone can join.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures. I need to raise a certain amount of funds to be able to participate so please pass this along to your family and friends and if your company has matching funds, please apply for them. You can go to my web page

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr12/tntgwn and donate. Sorry, but you will probably have to cut & paste the link in your browser.

Thank you and God Bless.

Update: 2/1/2012

Participated in first official team training on 1/28/2012 in Fayetteville. Met other team members as well as coaches and mentors. After walk/running 2 miles, we had a stretching and yoga clinic. Everything is going well. Next team training is 2/4/2012 with 3 miles as the goal. Afterward there will be a shoe and fundraising clinic. Have received some donations and have dropped another pound or two. Please continue to wish me luck and thanks for you support.

Update: 2/4/2012

Participated in the second team training in Fayetteville today at the Cape Fear River Trail near Methodist College. The goal today was 3 miles and it was a little more difficult due to some hills but I got through it just fine. Work out this week and walk/run 4 miles next Saturday. Really wish donations would pick up, only have 1% so far. Please continue to pray and support me.

God Bless!

Update: 2/11/2012

Paticipated in the third team training in downtown Fayetteville today. After walk/running 4 miles (ran almost 3 miles) we had an injury clinic and breakfast at Horne's Cafe. Everything is still going well, dropped a couple more pounds and got a couple of donations. Thanks so much! Will not be able to train with the team next Saturday so planning to do my 5 miles on Friday. Thanks for your continued prayers, support, and donations.

Update: 2/28/2012

Missed the fourth and fifth team training due to vacationing in San Diego while visiting my son who lives there, but still was able to get my miles in. Running on the cliffs of Ocean Beach is a lot nicer than running around Westhaven subdivision. I'm really looking forward to going back in June, and can you believe it is for such a great cause. I did do my 5 miles on Friday before flying to SD on Saturday and did my 6 miles on Sunday after flying back from SD on the following Saturday. Will be back with the team this Saturday to do 7 miles. Fundraising is going pretty well, just a little slower than I would like, and still a ways to go, but I sincerely appreciate every donation that I have received. Thanks so much for those who have contributed and I certainly hope you will be rewarded in some way for your kindness. Remember, "Saving Lifes, One Mile at the Time". Thank you again for your support.

Update: 3/20/2012

Sorry, I'm a little late in updating. Time flys when you're having fun. Even though I don't seem to have a spare moment, I am having fun and enjoying life. Since my last update, things have been going pretty well, not perfect, my second 7 mile run with the team and the following 2 mile run on Sunday were disappointing. I think I was tired and did not have enough energy, things have improved since. My 5 mile run last Saturday went very well. This coming Saturday will be a good test, 8 miles, Wish me Luck. Hey, that is well past half way to 13.1 with 11 weeks left. On that note, I'm a little disappointed that I have not lost anymore weight in the last two weeks, just up and down right now. Guess I've been eating a little more than I should, but I feel great. Wish me luck there too. As far as fundraising, that is going pretty good. You have been amazing so far and I am touched by all your support. Still got a ways to go, so if you have been putting off writing that check or going on-line, Please do so when you get a chance. You don't know how it touches my heart and gives me the desire to carry on In Honor of Jacey and all the others touched by cancer in some way and especially for me In Honor & Memory of Ryan. With your support, I am making a difference in my life and the lives of others. Please continue to support LLS and together let's find a cure. God Bless.

Update 6/6/2012

I did it!!! 13.1 in 2:47.53. What an amazing event in San Diego. So far CenturyLink employees raised $180,000 with donations still coming in and Team in Training raised 7.3 million with more coming. This was only possible with your support and donations. Thank you!!! LLS is doing amazing things with the funds and is making great strides in fighting cancer and in an effort to find a cure. Once again, Thank you again for honoring Jacey and our angel Ryan.