IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO SHARE...

At the beginning of this adventure/journey I told everyone who would listen that I was running my first full marathon in San Francisco, raising money for a good cause and that it was going to be a life changing experience. I thought the marathon was the life changing experience. I was wrong. This experience is so much more than the event. The changes began before I took my first step on a training run or sent out my first fundraising email.

Putting my name on the dotted line, making the commitment to be responsible for raising a minimum of $3,900 was life changing. If I trained hard enough and well enough I knew I could finish the race. But following through with the financial commitment was where I would discover what I am truly capable of.

Every week at training, before we run, we have a Mission Moment. The Mission Moment is to remind us why we are running, walking, run/walking and why we ask people to support our run through a donation to the LLS. At the Mission Moment a survivor leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma or a family member of a survivor stands up and talks about their experience and how the work of the LLS and the fundraising done by Team in Training athletes benefited their loved one and their family. Last week a woman spoke, tearfully, about how, through the research funded by the LLS, she was able to enjoy seven more years with her father who was diagnosed with lymphoma. Seven years she would not have had were it not for the people running and raising money to find a cure for blood cancers.

Diagnostic tools and treatments not available twenty-six years ago when my mother was killed by leukemia are available today because of research grants funded by the LLS. My son is in remission because of the strides in research and perfecting of drugs for cancer victims. Improved patient care and family assistance provided by the LLS are now available to help ease the devastation of coping with cancer. The changes in my life pale by comparison, to changes made in the lives of patients and their families by the work done by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It is my privilege to be part of this journey. I would not have missed it for the world.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I am very excited to share with you a huge personal endeavor I have just begun. I am training to run my first marathon. That's right the "Full Monty," all 26.2 miles! On October 18, 2009 I will run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. Iam running with the New York City chapter of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (LLS).

The inspiration for taking on this challenge comes from very close to home. Twenty-six years ago my mother died of leukemia. She passed away three months after her diagnosis. When I run in San Francisco I will be the same age she was when she passed away.

Last December my thirty-three year old son thought he was going to have calcium deposits cleaned out of his knee from an old hockey injury. Instead on Christmas Eve he had three lumps removed from his knee. The surgery went well and after six weeks of chemotherapy he is doing well. But the emotional, physical and financial strain has been and contiues to be devastating.

I have joined Team in Training to raise funds for research and to increase awareness about blood cancers. Seventy-five percent of the funds raised goes toward research and patient care for those who are in a battle for their lives.

My goal is to raise $3,900 and I am asking for your support in helping me reach that goal. Every donation is 100 percent tax deductible.

All you have to do is follow the link to my personal website

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

Jerie