Changing Lives...One Mile at a Time!

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

***UPDATES***

** Want to help me meet my goal and WIN a $25 Olive Garden Gift Card? Every $1 ONLINE Donation = 1 entry into the drawing (9/21). Not in Orlando/Out of State? No problem, i'll mail it to you. :)

** Not only will i be running in honor of Jarred but also in memory/honor of YOUR honored hero. What is an honored hero? An honored hero is someone you know that has been affected by any form of cancer. As a thank you for your donation of $26.20 (a dollar for every mile I will run during my marathon) or more, I will wear a ribbon during my race that will have the name of your honored hero on it.

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Every five minutes, someone in the United States learns that they have leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma, and every ten minutes, a child or adult dies from one of these diseases. While more and more people are becoming survivors of these deadly diseases, there is still no cure. Watching my friend's toddler battle with cancer, I decided that it was time to become involved in the search for a cure.

On August 2010, I became a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, whose mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2011 with TEAM, raising $2,000 for the Society. After crossing the finish line, I still wanted to do more. So for the next six months, I will dedicate my mind and body again to help find a cure for these terrible diseases. I have been training daily with my Team members and on October 14, 2012, I will run the Nike Women's Full Marathon in San Francisco, CA. Yes, that means 26.2 miles of craziness, hehe. :)

The money that I will raise for research is fulfilling, but the most important and inspirational part of my training is knowing that my hard work could make a difference in the life of my Honored Teammate. I am running in honor of Jarred Paluzzi who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in July 2009. He is currently in maintenance treatment until September of this year. Jarred is a 21 year old student at Seminole State College majoring in Photo Journalism and hopes to attend UCF in either the Summer or the Fall term. Throughout my training, I will wear a wrist band with his name on it which will be a constant reminder that no matter how challenging i think 26.2 miles is to run (especially with the CA hills), it doesn't even come close to the race he is currently running against cancer.

Jarred is the reason I am committing myself to this goal. With this inspiration how can I not fight my way to the finish line? It is a chance to embody a glimmer of hope for those who are battling blood cancers and to remember those who have lost their battle. I won't be able to train for this event alone, and I would be honored if you would help me. My goal is to raise $3,000. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible and 75% of every dollar goes directly into our mission. NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL. You may donate electronically through this website or by mail. Checks should be made out to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and mailed to me at P.O. Box 950233, Lake Mary, FL 32795.

I want to thank you in advance for your love and support! This is an exciting time and I hope you will choose to support me in my efforts to make a difference. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

"Never underestimate crowd power. People cheering can inspire you to undreamed efforts. But it takes more than inspiration to go 26.2."