run, lindsay, run

San Francisco... here I come!

I decided that Greenville just wasn’t cutting it, so I am going to travel all the way to San Francisco on October 19 to run in the NIKE Women’s Marathon!

As a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training, I am raising money for LLS to help find a cure for the blood cancers leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma. The money I raise will not only go towards research for finding a cure, but also to provide patient services for those who are in the fight against blood cancer. I need your support to reach my goal of $5000. Your contribution is 100% tax deductible and will leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside! (Okay I don’t promise the warm and fuzzy feeling, but know that you are helping out a great cause!)

Who am I doing this for?

I will be running in honor of my friend, Ashley Boyer, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. She is now in remission and is following her dream of becoming a chef. In August she will be graduating from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. She has been a true inspiration to me and I can’t even imagine what all she went through.

Although I was unaware when I first started training and fundraising, my grandfather, Foster Wright Case, died from Leukemia in 1970. He was in the Army and served under General George Patton from 1938 to 1946. I never had the opportunity to meet him but I know he was loved by his family.

I will also be running in honor of:

Sue Rowe who is a friend of family friends, Tom and Roberta Ress. She has multiple myeloma and now breast cancer. I have faith that she will have the strength to beat both and be an inspiration to many.

Ellie and Don Frost's friends, Pat Lewis and Carolyn Stair of Athens, are both survivors of blood cancers.

Adrienne Lemmond, who is the sister in law of a friend, Kristy Lemmond McKinney. Kristy wrote, "She had Hodgkins and went thru radiation and chemo when she was 20 yrs old. While she was going thru that her mom also passed away from heart failure from her past radiation and chemo. Adrienne is a wonderful woman and I am so thankful for her in our family."

And in memory of:

Rebecca Johnson. She is the mother of a dear college friend, Quinn Johnson. She passed away when he was 12 years old from complications from leukemia and the treatment.

Dr. James Lyle, who was the doctor of family friends, Cary and Bill Jenkins, just recently passed away with Burkitts Lymphoma. Cary wrote, "He was the most wonderful, positive, sincere man!" I will keep his family and friends in my thoughts.

Marge Beko who is the mother of a family friend, Wanda Nelson. I never met her, but know she was a wonderful lady.

Cleva Cole, the grandmother of a friend, Jen Lackey, who passed away from Lymphoma.

Bill Hargrove, who was friends with family friends Jim and Rita Skipworth.

Ruth Carey Seigle who is the mother of a family friend, Bill Seigle. He wrote, "She was an awesome Irish fireball full of love for all." Also his good friend Randy Joiner, who "ran his race with cancer til the end of this year."

Robert Smith, the father of a college friend, Sean Smith. He passed away from lymphoma when Sean was just in middle school. Garehard Lysk is Sean's uncle, and he passed away from lymphoma when he was Sean's age (25).

Thanks you to everyone who has sent in names! It makes this experience even more important and meaningful.

Start saving your pennies!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to donate!! I made my goal of $4500, but that doesn't mean you can't still donate! I would love to reach $5000 and am still taking donations and will be up until the big race. So save that change and donate to a great cause!

Corporate Sponsors

I want to thank g2 turftools for their generous donation and for becoming my first corporate sponsor! I also want to give a big thanks to Pro Rain Irrigation for all of their support and generous donations. Pro Rain and its employees contributed a total of $1050! That is 25% of my fundraising minimum! Thank you!!

If your company would like to be a corporate sponsor, please feel free to email me, lindsay@lindsaymerkt.com, for details.

So what exactly are the blood cancers?

Leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma are cancers that originate in the bone marrow and lymphatic tissue. All cancers have two features in common: cells that become abnormal and are produced in excessive amounts.

Leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma are considered to be related cancers because they involve the uncontrolled growth of cells with similar functions and origins. The diseases result from an acquired (not inherited) genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which becomes abnormal (malignant) and multiplies continuously. Their onset interferes with the body’s production of healthy blood cells and makes the body unable to protect itself against infections.

This is also Team in Training’s 20th Anniversary! So please help make this the best year possible! Since Team In Training’s inception in 1988, more than 360,000 participants have raised over $850 million to support the Society’s research and patient services programs.

Nike puts on this marathon specifically for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so all of the funds raised go towards research and patient services and not towards the event. Last year TNT raised $18.5 million dollars through The Nike Women’s Marathon. Together we can exceed that amount and make this a wonderful 20th year!

Please check out my blog, http://lindsaymerkt.blogspot.com/, to see my training progress! I will be updating it as often as possible!

Thank you for your support!

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to submit a donation by mail, please send me an email at lindsay@lindsaymerkt.com.

(picture above: me and my training partner, bama.)

Updates!

For more detailed updates and training progress, please visit my blog, http://lindsaymerkt.blogspot.com.

October 23, 2008

I finished! I made it the entire 26.2 miles and made a small difference in the life of someone. I am so excited to say that I completed a marathon and I can't wait to do it again! It was so much pain towards the end of the race, but I dug deep inside myself and found what I needed to get me through. It was a tough course and it took me a lot longer to finish than I actually thought it would, but I made it. The entire experience was amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I learned more about myself than I ever thought possible and I also made some great friends along the way. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in any way possible. Just thinking about me during the training and race really got me through when I thought my legs were going to fall off. I have amazing friends and family and I am so thankful that you all were able to be a part of this experience. Thank you!! And I will keep on runnin'.

October 16, 2008

I am heading to San Francisco in the morning and I am excited and nervous at the same time. I know I can do this, but I keep thinking what if something goes wrong. I am trying not to think about it too much just so I don't sike myself out. I know once I get to the starting line I am going to be filled with adrenaline and all I will think about is running. I will be sure to update this page as soon as I can after I finish! Thank you so much for all of the support! It makes this experience that much better and exciting!

September 22, 2008

I can't believe it's been over a month since I have updated this site! I have been pretty busy traveling for work and of course, RUNNING! I have had a little foot problem and it has been hard to run and even walk for the past week. But I finally went to the doctor today, just so I knew I wasn't doing any harm by staying on it, and I am good to go! I have a bit of tendonitis and am going to do some rehab for about 3 weeks to strengthen every thing. So I should be ready to go strong for race day! My biggest concern was my run this Saturday - the big 20 mile run!! I am so excited about it, especially since I was scared I wouldn't be able to run it. There's nothing like thinking you can't run to make you want to run! So I will be doing my 20 mile run on Saturday, and they say in the actual marathon that the 20 mile mark is half way because the last 6 miles are tough! So here's to half way... I'll make sure I let you all know how it goes!

August 22, 2008

For a little inspiration from Beijing: Dutch open water swimmer Maarten van der Weijden, sprinted to the end of the 10k open water swim to come away with the gold and to complete his recovery from Leukemia. He was diagnosed in 2001 and came back in 2003 to swim faster than he ever has before. Check out the story here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/newsid=241658.html#comeback+from+leukemia

On a sad note, please keep Liam Fisher in your thoughts and prayers. He is 18 months old and has been fighting for his life over t he past 10 months. He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at 8 months and today as only a 5 to 10% chance of living. Find his story here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/liamfisher

August 16, 2008

14 miles! Are you serious? Yes, yes I did. At a little under 3 hours, it wasn't my best run, but it was good to get it out of the way. I have been battling a slight hamstring injury, so I was in pain at some points, especially up hills, but battled through it and finished as strong as I could. I could actually walk later in the day, so I count that as a succesful run!

I am so close to my fundraising goal! I have actually made my fundraising minimum, $4100, but would love to raise even more money! Everything I raise from here on out, 100% of the funds go directly to the research and patient services, which is amazing. So help get me to my goal of $4500!!

August 3, 2008

Half Marathon in the books. Well not really an official half marathon, but I did run 13.5 miles yesterday morning. It felt really good and I was very happy with myself. But boy did I hurt afterwards! I could barely walk. I did something to my hip flexor, so everytime I got up to walk, I felt it! Today I am having issues with just overall tired legs. I guess it's to be expected. There is a huge difference in the way I have felt after run 10 miles and running 13.5. It makes me nervous to double that mileage, will the pain double? I'm going to have to be pushed around in a wheel chair after the marathon if that's the case! Hopefully these little legs of mine will strengthen even more and not kill me after I have abused them for 26.2 miles.

Thanks to everyone who has donated!! I didn't quite make my goal of $4500 by August 1, but I am still taking donations (up until the big race even). So if you haven't gotten them in, don't worry, it's not too late. Thanks again for the overwhelming support!

July 27,2008

I succesfully ran 11.5 miles... by myself! One of the hardest things to do for me is to run long distances by myself. Of course short distances can be tough too, but they go by much quicker and can sometimes be refreshing. I spent over 2 hours on the road running by myself and I can tell you that I was certainly bored, and slow. But all in all, it was a very good run and makes me realize I might be capable of doing 26.2 miles, especially since there will be so much going on I won't have time to get bored!

July 19, 2008

I just ran 10 miles! This morning I got up bright and early after a rough nights sleep and made my way over to Furman. I felt pretty good most of the time. There were a couple of times that I just wanted to stop because I was mildly achy and bored, but I kept trudging on! It felt so good to run for that long and I feel like I really accomplished something. It definitely makes me realize that a marathon isn't that much of an impossible goal. Only 16.2 miles to add on to that!

July 17, 2008

I am officially at $2,152.20!! I am so excited, I am almost half way there! Thank you to everyone who has taken the few minutes to send in a donation or to donate online! Those few minutes will help save some lives! Every 5 minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer, so that time it took you to donate, someone was diagnosed! But with your help, there will be a cure and those that are currently battling a blood cancer with have access to financial and emotional support! Thank you so much! If you haven't donated, it's not too late! So click on that button and donate today!

July 10, 2008

I am overwhelmed with the support of all of my friends and family. I am also surprised at how many people blood cancers have affected. Thank you to everyone who have sent in names of those who are either survivors or those that have passed because of blood cancers. It makes this fundraising and training that much easier because I know what I am going through is not even comparable. I also want to give extra kudos to our new Campaign Coordinator, Kimberly Perry, who is a survivor herself and is now giving back to the society. She ran in the Nike Marathon last year and raised over $10,000. She rocks. Check out her page from last year here.

July 7, 2008

I think every one on my team can agree that now that we are training and fundraising for blood cancers, it seems to affect everyone around us. In the past couple of days I have received several names that have been affected by these blood cancers. I hope that all the hard work and training pays off in the very near future. I'm not running 26.2 miles for nothing!!

In memory of Dr James Lyle and in honor of Sue Rowe.

July 4, 2008

Happy 4th of July! This morning I ran in the Easly Firecracker 5k. I finished in about the same time as I did in my last 5k, so at least I am consistent! My legs were really heavy and I couldn't wait to finish, unfortunatley that didn't make my legs move any faster. My fundraising is going a little bit better than my run this morning! I have raised a total of $1376! I am so excited and look forward to the mailman coming everyday! Thanks for all the support and donations! I still have a ways to go, but with everyones help, I'm sure to get there soon!

July 2, 2008

To all of those who have genrously donated so far, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am getting closer to my first goal of $2000 by July 14! So far with all of the checks, I have raised $901! I am still so far from my goal of $4500 and still need your help! No donation is too small, so feel free to donate $1, $5, $10, it will all help to find a cure!