My name is Yanni Robel, and I'm a survivor.

My dear family and friends,

Call me crazy, but I have decided to run my first (two) half-marathon in addition to summit Mt. Rainier this year. On October 9, 2011 I'll be running in the Portland Half-Marathon and on January 29, 2012, I'll be running in Disney Tinker Bell Half Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT).

Since I have been training for my climb since last March, I'll be continuing to train for this marathon. In the next three months, I'll be running all over Seattle, increasing my miles each week so I can run those 13.1miles. TNT is an endurance training program whose goal is to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission to raise money for reasearch and patient support. Since 1988, TNT's efforts have trained more than 440,000 participants who have raised over $1 billion!!

In addition to their phenomenal research support efforts, the Society is also committed to offering resources, support, financial aid, and educational materials to patients, their family members and friends, and health care professionals. Our family has personally benefited from this organization in so many ways; this is my way of giving back to the them and to other families who are impacted by cancer.

Why I am running

I'm one of the lucky survivor who can have some new normalcy in life because a lot of smart people put thousands of hours and a lot of money into research and development for my current medicine. I have lost friends, and watch few of them suffer the same disease. I felt helpless and often wonder if I can do more to help than what I already did.

This event allow me to do something, and it will allow YOU to do something as well. Remember all those times you asked me if there's anything you can do for me? This is one of those.

TNT's endurance training program whose goal is to support, through fundraising and advocacy, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission to improve the quality of life for patients with leukemia and related blood cancers to aid in search for a cure, to improve public and professional education, along with advocacy and community service.

In fact, a large portion of donations to The Society stay in Oregon in the form of a grant to OHSU’s Dr. Brian Druker. Dr. Druker developed Gleevac, the medication that prevents and stops the growth of cancer cells. That is THE medication that allow me to have a new normalcy in life today. That's the medication that save my life.

I'm so thrilled to be participating in this wonderful event, but as is true with so many things that are really worth doing, this can't be a solo effort. I need your support not only to raise the $2,500 donation but also to muster up the internal strength I know I will need to meet the physical and emotional challenge that lie ahead.

Please express your support in one or more of the following ways:

• Send a tax-deductible donation made out to LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY to me. Please email me directly, and I'll give you my address to send the check to or do a donation online via my personal fundraising page here

• Help me spread the word about what I'm doing. Mention the Portland half-marathon to 3 friends and ask if they'd be interested in sponsoring me? wait, make that 5 friends!

• Many companies match their employees charitable giving, if you decided to support me and do a donation, please ask your human resources about it and ask them to match your gift!

• Send me your inspirational and encouraging thoughts, poems, jokes, stories etc via email at yanni_robel@msn.com. Oh I could use a lot of pray to for the success of this run and continuous health for me as well!

Thank you for considering a donation to this worthy cause and for supporting the cause that I believe in and be part of saving life. MY life.. I personally thank YOU.

Much love,

Yanni

Do you know that every five minutes, someone in United States diagnosed with blood cancer?