I need people to donate money to my TEAM in Training campaign to raise $2900 for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in order to run the Marine Corps Marathon - Official Page. It's 100% tax deductible and funds much needed research to cure blood cancer. I'm currently not even at 10% of my goal so I'm going to pony up here with a special drawing to entice you to donate to the cause.

So.. on July 29th I will draw the name of one campaign donor and present him or her with an option of one of the following two prizes which I will buy, out of my own pocket, upon notification by the winner which is chosen.

1. $100 gift certificate for any of the fine merchandise at Joe Garcia's Fast Custom Shirts. Soooo many awesome t-shirts, most at only 10 bucks each. Check it out at http://www.fastcustomshirts.com/ and see the potential of $100 at his fine store!

2. $100 gift certificate for any of the fine merchandise offered by Dan Woods at the RunJunkEes shop. He has a lot of great stuff now and freshens up his offerings on a regular basis. Check it out at http://www.runjunkees.com/!

So, for every $5 you donate you get 1 entry to win. Donate $20 and I'll drop 10 entries into the bucket with your name on them. Drop $50 for 50 entries. And $100 will get you 150 entries. How's that for awesomesauce chances to win one of these two fine prizes? If you've donated you're already in!

You can donate directly at this link right here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/corps14/andyrose4mav

Today I signed up for my 8th full season with TEAM in Training to train for and to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington/DC the last weekend of October. 

Why?

Because I love to run and I love the marathon?  No, while that's true, I can do both without comitting to raise a bunch of money.   And there are other charities that I can run for with smaller fundraising comittments but the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society holds that special place in my heart and in my life.   It all began on June 11th, 2011 as I stood in a room in Children's Medical Center in Dallas as my nephew Mavrick lay, losing a long hard fought battle with blood cancer... Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  I comitted to giving this young boy a lasting legacy by running marathons and raising money to fund research, care, and advocacy for blood cancer patients.  But.  I wasn't a runner.  And that seemed to matter little that day. 

Right from the beginning it was all about fundraising.

I hoped I could become a runner, raise a couple of thousand dollars, and complete a half marathon in about six months that first season. I knew that I'd always have that memory of Mavrick, the little boy whose life was taken from him and his loving parents and grandparents far too early to draw upon as I trained.   And I did.  Often.  Running got easier, mile over mile, but the sadness of June 11th never got easier.  So I ended the first season after raising close to $5000 and running a full marathon already signed up for the 2nd.  And the 3rd.  And the 4th.  But why? 

For hope.  Hope that we find a cure for blood cancer today.  Not someday.  That's not soon enough.  Today.  Hope for my beloved friend Bea who, without a cure, will undergo treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) for the rest of her life.  Hope for Nory.  For Jackson.  For Grayson.  For Lainey.  Children who are all in remission but have not yet completed treatment and have not yet reached that magic "5 year, no remission, no cancer" milestone.  Hope.  For April.  For Candice.  For Andrew.  For Pam.  And for Cathy.  The mothers, the son, the aunt, and the sister who had people prematurely ripped from their lives by blood cancer.  Hope that they may be the last to know the pain of losing someone so close as their son, his mom, her nephew, or her sister to blood cancer.  Hope.  That the cure for blood cancer is today.

The LLS is celebrating a milestone of $1 billion in research to provide better, safer, more effective, and more available treatments, to develop a cure, and to fund the advocacy needed in our Nation's and our States' capitols to ensure that those affected with blood cancer have a fighting chance at receiving the treatment and the funds they desperately need to win their battle.   I contributed to the first billion dollars through the help and generosity of many, many, many amazing friends who donated to my campaigns and I'll continue to contribute by running and training while fundraising to the 2nd billion dollars.  The cure.  It's really not that much to ask for.  Right?

Someday is Today.  And I declare that cancer is losing its battle against the human race.  I declare that cancer ends with me.  Please join me in declaring that cancer ends today with US by making a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.