I WILL RUN SLOWLY FOR YOUR NICKELS, ENJOYMENT AND CANCER.

Good day to you sir or madam. I am running the Nike Women's Marathon. And although I am not currently a woman, I will be running alongside them, respectfully and chastely, in the spirit of a good cause.

What cause is this? Why for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. If you're not laughing at the idea of me "running," then you probably don't know me very well. Picture if Prefontaine had eaten many, many dozens of crullers right before his big race. That's pretty much what I'll look like.

Now, these letters are usually filled with heart wrenching, emotional treacle that is designed to make you feel terribly guilty in order separate you from your money. I absolutely do want to vacuum as much money out of you. But, I'm not going to do it by telling you a frightening, humorless story of loss, redemption or spirituality. I am absolutely not running to cure cancer or make some maudlin gesture in the name of someone.

So why am I running? The answer is twofold. First, people with cancer - your friends, relatives, co-workers - are still the same farting, dancing, kissing, funny, honorable, inspiring and amazing people they have always been. Cancer does not change who they are. However, cancer is a very scary concept in our society. Our tendency is to not want to talk about it, or if we do, we discuss it in a hushed, embarrassed manner. Worse, we treat people with cancer with pity or over concern. Let's agree to not do that.

This is not to say that cancer isn't a devastating disease. But you're probably aware of that already. This brings me to my second point. I'm not running to cure cancer. This is, of course, the end goal. But, I'm am personally running in support of a goal I think is actually very close to becoming a reality: treating cancer as a chronic condition. Maybe this is uninspiring to some of you. Cures are sexy. Management is not. But the strides in treatment that I have personally seen in just four short years since I started paying attention is nothing less than unbelievable. There is real momentum behind some regimes and I expect to hear good things in the coming years. Soon, many cancers may be seen as a just nusance. Holy moly.

You will know someone with cancer. You probably already do. Maybe it'll even be you (let's hope not). Someone special to me is currently being treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and her spirit, humor and bravery is nothing short of incredible. Knowing her has changed my life.

So please, fork over the entire contents of wallets, purses and strongboxes. I may do some sort of sponsorship thingy. Like maybe you'd like to sponsor my arm, knee or thigh? Maybe you'd like to pay for the privilege of putting a terrible song on my totally rad marathon playlist. Maybe you know someone with cancer. Maybe you enjoy the thought of me in pain. Doesn't matter. Just donate what you can.

I'll be posting updates on things (there will be no inspirational tumblr, sorry). Visit here.

Love,

Marc