Running to Save Lives

Guess what I'm doing again! As if it wasn't difficult enough at the age of 21.

I have decided to train for another endurance event with Team In Training. As some of you may remember, I ran the Mayor's Midnight Sun 1/2 Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in 2001. In the process, I met lots of wonderful people, accomplished something that I never thought possible, and raised nearly $4200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's fight against blood cancers.

This time around, my friend Liz and I are training together for the ZOOMA 1/2 Marathon in Annapolis, Maryland on May 31, 2009. Besides challenging ourselves to do something difficult and uncommon, the other reason we're participating is to help Team In Training raise money to help stop leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. While I do not know anyone personally who's been affected by blood cancer, I have been teamed up with someone who has and her name is Peggy Goode.

Peggy was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at the age of 50. While this disease typically affects the elderly, Peggy was far from feeling old. After 9 years of fighting this blood cancer and one partial remission it was declared on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 that she was in complete remission!

Each year, lymphoma and other blood cancers strike some 110,450 Americans, while claiming more than 54,000 lives in the United States alone. Leukemia is one of the leading causes of death in children between the ages of 1-15. The good news is that the survival rate has risen from 4% in 1960 to 81% in the last decade. This is in part due to the money that The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has raised to aid researchers in their fight to find cures for this disease.

My fundraising goal for this season is $1700. It turns out that the fundraising is more difficult than the actual training! I realized when I signed up to do this that it would be tough considering the economy - but I keep reminding myself and those around me that people still get Leukemia and other blood cancers during recessions, which is why they need more help than ever right now!! Any amount counts towards saving a life!!

My fundraising deadline is May 14, 2009.

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I want to thank you in advance for your love and support!

Questions? Email me at julia.lapp@gmail.com