February 20, 2002, my sister passed away in a car accident.

11 years later for the anniversary of her death, I signed up to run my first marathon with Team in Training.

I spent months training with my team and on my own. Grueling high mileage days. Hurdling over what sometimes seemed like insurmountable obstacles. Since losing my stomach, my body does not take kindly to the abuse that hours of high impact activity inflicts upon my digestive system. It's exhausting and it's painful.

From February through September, I ran hundreds of miles. Bled a lot. Cried a lot. Lost a few toenails. Took a lot of pain medication. And nausea medication.

Yet it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have a new sense of pride and humility. I realized that despite the pain, not everyone gets to raise thousands of dollars for cancer research. Not everyone gets to run a marathon. Not everyone is afforded the luxury of having a family willing to sacrifice their weekends for the better part of a year. But I do. I get to.

Today is November 18. It would be my sister's 33rd birthday if she were still here. I'm missing her a ton. I'm home with my 3yo daughter who will never know my sister, a 3yo who wants to run marathons for charity, who will never know the person who inspired me to run marathons for charity. And my heart is broken.

But as broken as it is, it reminds me that I am doing something that she would be proud of me doing and I’m doing it for her. In 166 days, I will be running the BMO Vancouver Marathon with Team in Training. I can’t have my sister back, but by running, I can help other people’s sisters stay around a little bit longer.

I love you, Colleen. I wish you could know the ways you’ve inspired me to make the world a better place.

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.