Good Morning Everyone!

It is hard to believe that three weeks has already passed since I ran the Paris Marathon - and two weeks since I have been home! I realized it's time I sent out a note of sincere thanks to you for supporting my efforts! While I was a bit short of my goal I am still very proud of what I was able to raise - and that's all because of your extreme generosity. Despite missing my own personal goal I am happy to share that I was in the top three of my group and the top 10 of all theTNT chapters that went to Paris!

The mission of LLS will continue; to find a cure for all types of blood cancers and in the meantime provide financial, educational and emotional support for the people who suffer from this disease. Progress continues and will continue because of people like you!

Paris was amazing! All of it! If you've never been I encourage you to add it to your "top five places to visit" and if you've been plan to go back! The history, the museums, the shopping, the food including the amazing bakeries (!) was incredible. Seeing the Eiffel Tower up close, Ste Chappelle's stained glass windows, Notre Dam, The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, (at The Louve) Whistler's Mother (at the Musee d'Orsay), The Thinker (Rodin's Garden), Sacre Cour and so much more are memories that will last me a life time!

But of course you are probably interested in the marathon! Running a marathon through any city affords you a unique view of it and Paris was no exception. The course was beautiful and carried us past so many incredible sites. Was it my fastest race? Sadly no, but I did finish in 4:00:36 (oh to be 40 seconds faster) so I'll consider that a respectable finish - and even if it wasn't, I ran it in Paris! That isn't a bad thing! I'm attaching a link to an article I was asked to write for a friend's running/coaching blog if you are interested in reading a bit more detail about the race itself. (For those of you who are runners yourselves I'd encourage you to bookmark this site - it always has really good information and news!)

http://running-advice.com/blog/?p=5531#more-5531

I'll also leave you with this picture from the race start, just to give you a sense of how big it really was...and yes, that's the Arch de Triomphe in the backgroud...that's where we started, right on the Champs de Elysees!

Crossing the finish line at Nike, proudly wearing my TEAM jersey

I experienced a life changing event in October 2009 when I finished the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. I was able to accomplish this personal long time goal with the help of TEAM in Training, the endurance training and fundraising arm of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). In exchange for an incredible training program and amazing support I raised $5,500 for LLS to help support people and their families fighting various blood cancers and to help fund ongoing research for a cure. Meeting this fundraising goal was as life changing to me as was running the marathon.

I ran that event in loving memory of Jennifer, a bright vivacious, energetic, bubbly girl who loved nothing more than to giggle. She was my best friend and her life was cut horribly short by leukemia.

I’ve now got my sights on another marathon and this one’s going to be international! In April 2011 I will be running my 4th marathon in Paris (no I haven’t been sitting idle since Oct 09!!). My plans are bigger and so are my fundraising goals; I want to raise $10,000 to benefit LLS. Big plans, BIG goal! I need your help.

This year, in addition to again running in memory of Jennifer, I am also running in loving memory of my Mom. My Mom was diagnosed with Renal Cell Cancer. All cancers are insidious, and renal cell cancer is no exception because traditional chemo therapy doesn’t work. So Mom managed painfully through surgery, later followed by radiation, and non-chemo treatments in her best and most courageous attempts to beat the disease. Despite her courage and fight to beat it, my Mom died in 1997. She left behind six children and their spouses and 17 grandchildren.

So at this point you may be saying “Yes, this is sad, but what does Renal Cell Cancer have to do with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society?” That’s a reasonable question.

The answer is simple. Gleevec

Gleevec is a drug that in May of 2001 the FDA approved for treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). Patients who at the time had little chance of survival using traditional treatments were now surviving on Gleevec with little or no side effects. In February of 2002 the FDA further approved the use of Gleevec for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) another cancer that was too resistant to traditional chemo therapy, with similar remarkable results.

Gleevec was developed through research funded by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

So it’s likely you are now saying “okay, I still don’t get the connection”. Again, a reasonable question with a simple answer.

Ongoing research.

There are several clinical trials (ClinicalTrails.gov) in various stages to see if Gleevec, on its own or in combination with other treatments, can have the same impact on other cancers as it did on CML and GIST. Renal cell cancer is one of those trials. But there are many more trials on different forms of cancer: lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic and uterine. There has even been remarkable progress on the use of Gleevec for diabetes.

So you see, it’s not just about raising money to fight blood cancers. The research being done has the potential to impact so much more. It’s too early to know if these trials will be successful, but it requires ongoing research. And research requires money.

So I’m asking you to help me reach my $10,000 goal.

You can donate right here on this site by selecting or filling in your donation amount on the right hand side of this page. The rest is as simple as filling out a few bits of information! If you prefer to donate by check (made out to LLS) you can send that to me, or you can contact me and provide me with your credit card information to donate off line.

Please remember that any donation is tax deductible.

Since you are on my donation page take a look at the first donation. That’s my way of saying I’m putting my money where my mouth is – and well, where my legs and feet are going to to be! I am committed to this mission and I hope I can count on your support too.

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