Racing to Save Lives - One Mile at a Time!!

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to visit my page!

I ran in the Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon on June 27th as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

I am completed this event in honor of Graham Hood - my best friend's father - who has been battling Multiple Myeloma for 9 years. Multiple myeloma is a disease of the bone marrow, much like leukemia. The main difference is that mm causes lesions on the bone or plasmocytomas and eat away the bone.

On May 15, 2000, he awoke to go to the bathroom and when he bent to pick up the toilet seat, his back snapped and left him totally paralyzed from the chest down. When they got to Duke, they were informed that he had 1 1/2 to 3 years to live if I followed their protocol (that was 9 years ago!!). His daughter got busy studying the disease and found that a great deal of research was taking place in Little Rock, AR. The doc at Duke made the arrangements and he went out there for treatment. In the time since he was diagnosed, research has helped increase the overall survival rate for persons with Multiple Myeloma from 1 1/2-3 years to 12-20 years. The new drugs and treatment plans have been a direct result of the research taking place in all blood related diseases. He initally had 3 rounds of chemo followed by 2 stem cell transplants. Research found that thalidomide was a great tool in fighting the disease and have now come out with a drug without the side effects and more effective. Revlimid is a capsule which cost about $300 each and is taken for 28 days each month. Velcade is another drug researchers have developed in the past few years and combined with Revlimid is very effective in treating mm.

The Myeloma Institute for Research Technology in Little Rock is headed by a Dr Bart Barlogie, who spends many hours in research and raising money to attain his life's goal of finding a cure in his lifetime.

75% of the funds raised will go to research for a cure for blood cancers and patient services. Here's some examples of what your donation can mean to these cancer patients:

• $500 provides research for finding a cure
• $100 provides transportation from the cancer center
• $75 provides bone marrow typing for a family member
• $50 registers one person to be a bone marrow donor
• $25 pays the cost of drug prescriptions co-pay

My goal was to raise a minimum of $4,500 for LLS before I ran this event in Seattle in June. Please help me reach my goal and more importantly, get us closer to a cure for these cancers. I appreciate your encouragement and support for myself, but more importantly for people like Graham. It is stories like his that keep me pressing on to reach the goal of running 26.2 miles - something that previously seemed crazy to me! These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.

Thanks for your support!

There are many companies that have matching gift programs! If your company is one of these (Bank of America, Wachovie, and more) please remember to double your donation by filling out your company's matching gift form and sending it along with your donation!

Training Status

• March 21 - went 9 miles! I can't believe I did it, but I did! This is a new personal record!!
• March 28 - will be running 10 miles! Hopefully the rain holds off and we can stay dry!!!
• April 10 - ran 11 miles solo - no team training due to Easter weekend...I made it...a little recovery necessary from the blisters!
• April 18 - ran the 10K in Charlotte Racefest - to gain the 'race' experience, also met my recommitment goal and was able to recommit to the Seattle run on June 27th!!
• April 25th - ran 14 miles - Team run...wow! that's a LOT! but my new running shoes (in the right size) helped a ton!
• June 27th - went the distance! 26.2 miles in beautiful Seattle. The weather could not have beeen more perfect...however the concrete we spent 90% of our time on could have been softer...My feet are almost healed from the blisters that had me in total misery, but I'm forgetting the pain. I'll never forget the experience of crossing that finish line!!!