Our Fundraising Page

Racing to Save Lives!

Welcome to our Team In Training home page. It will read like a blog so make sure you scroll all of the way down to get the most recent up dates.

We are training to participate in the Rock N Roll Seattle 1/2 Marathon 2009 as members of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. We are completing this event in memory of Johnny Burnett, Tia's father, who died from leukemia in 2002 and in honor of Mandy Rowe (our honorary team mate) and for all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support our participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. No donation is too small. All donations are tax deductible.

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

A Big Thank You!

For some reason all of the people who donated directly to us (not on the website) were recorded on the wrong site (Amanda's old site) and they are not able to transfer that info over to this site. Because of that, I would like to list the contributors who should be listed on the right side but aren't. Thanks goes to the following donators...

Briana Sands, Ron Britt, Christy Baisinger, Vicki Mitchell, Tom & Valerie Hennessy, Leon Maras, Jewell & Rindy Morehead, Dean Tollefson, Kevin & Amy Boyle, Martin Miller, Donald Hinman, Cynthia Whitlock, Rose Marie Buendorf, Dan & Jan Nall, Bill & Mur Jensen, Ronald Rockstrom, Steve Wright, and Steven Wright. As papers are processed, more names will show up on the right side. We appreciate your support!!!

February 6, 2009 - The real winners - We would like to introduce you to our honorary team member Mandy Rowe. S

Shortly after her daughter was born, Mandy was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. We're including a portion of her letter here so you can get to know her. Mandy, and others like her , are the reason we are running.

"During the heartbreaking and overwhelming time of diagnosis, I found strength in my family and my faith in God. There are no words to truly describe the mercies bestowed upon me during this journey and there are too many stories of God's grace to include on this page. I will say that true compassion and humanistic medical care was one of these mercies! Swedish Hospital in Seattle is where I found such compassionate care and where I traveled every other week for 6 months for intensive chemotherapy treatments. There were many tears shed along this painful journey, but the beauty of darkness is that when the light comes, it is so much brighter than before! On July 23rd 2007 I was declared "cancer-free"!

Today I am celebrating 1 and a half years remission... To celebrate my victory over cancer, I decided to train for the Nike Women's Half-Marathon with Team in Training. I joined the Tri-Cities team, along with 2 of my sisters and an aunt, with the goal of racing together in San Francisco. This goal came to fruition last October - we ran together, along with 20,000 others to find a cure for blood cancers. The emotions of this event are difficult to describe - all I can say is WOW!

I am honored and humbled to be your "honored teammate". I thank you for undergoing this challenge! I consider myself one of the lucky ones - it is because of the work of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that Hodgkin's is considered a CURABLE cancer. I am looking forward to training and fundraising with you to help find a cure for all blood cancers."

With your donations, we can continue to help others, like Mandy, fight Leukemia or Lymphoma and go on to live productive lives. It only takes a moment to give, a moment that can last a lifetime.

February 22, 2009 -Always, always stick to the plan.

Amanda was sick for the Saturday run so she wasn't there to be my "mind of reason". I ended up running with Andy because we keep about the same pace. I was encouraged because at the beginning of the run one of the ladies said (as I ran by), "Oh, you're the fast one." Wow, I've never been known as "the fast one" in my life. I'm guessing it was because many in the group are newer to running. I'm so glad they are all participating no matter what their level is!

Well poor Andy ended up running up a hill that he didn't need to. He is training for the full marathon and I am training for the half. That day, the courses were a little different.

Jeff and Cassie were the only ones ahead of us. We caught up at the water stop. I mentioned it had been fun but I guess I had to run the rest on my own. Their run was for 100 minutes, mine was for 60. I was right on track for being half way. The only problem was, I let them talk me into doing the full run that day. I thought, "No big deal. It was only fair after making Andy run up that one hill." So I agreed. It didn't take long to realize the foolishness of that. Their course took them to the top of 66th Ave. That hill was a monster compared to the one Andy and I ran up. I thought I was going to die! I did walk short pieces of it. I was never so glad to get to the top of a hill! Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the course directions. We ended up running the wrong way but thankfully Andy was keeping the time for us. At 50 minutes we turned around. Egads, half of their run was almost my full time. I'm so glad that most of the way home was all DOWN HILL. In the end, I ran a little over 9 miles instead of the 6 I would have done. It was a good run. If it weren't for the gigantic hill, I probably wouldn't even be sore today...except, I am. I just kept telling myself that my worse day running is still better than a leukemia patient's best day of chemo. It keeps me going. Tia

March 10, 2009 -It is still cold! I am looking forward to running in warmer weather! Amanda had to miss the Saturday morning run because she was still sick. Finally she went to the doctor and since she was diagnosed with Bronchitus, got antibiotics. In case you think she has been whimping out, Amanda was running during the week. It's just that by the weekend her body was so worn out, there was no way she was going to be able to run.

Having been sick myself during the week, I opted to stick to the training plan for the 1/2 marathon. Some of the others tried to talk me into going up that hill again but I figured since I had to miss most of my runs that week (due to a fever), I had better stick to the plan...well, sort of. The scheduled run was 50 minutes and I opted to run the whole course for the day which took me 58 minutes. I think it was just shy of 6 miles and included a few hills so I figured that was good.

We're still waiting to see who our first donor will be. PLEASE don't wait until the last minute! We do have deadlines to meet. I know "times are tight" but just think, if 100 people donated $5, that would be $500! That's just giving up one latte...or maybe a latte and 1/2 a cookie. In the big scheme of things, not too much to ask. I know some people are able to donate more, so if that is you, go for it! If that isn't you, we'll be greatful for any amount you can give! Please give today! Tia

March 14, 2009 -I really am looking forward to running in warmer weather. As I was heading to the team run this morning, I glanced at the thermometer and let a shiver run through my body at the site of the 29 degrees. Well, at least it wasn't 19 degrees!

Amanda was back in spite of still being on medication. We did our 54 minutes and called it good. I'm anticipating our next Saturday run will rock! Come back to see if I'm right.

Congrats to Amy M. for being our very first donor! Thank you so much for your support!

I know times are tight for most but let's think about ways we can donate to a fantastic cause that won't be too painful. How about skipping one latte? Can you pack your lunch one day instead of heading to Sonics? We'll be happy to have your 4 or 5 dollars. We're not asking for an arm and a leg. Just a finger or toe. Of course if you have a spare arm to offer, we'll be all for it! If we all donate something, every little bit will add up to make a difference in the life of someone with blood cancer. Please donate now. It's easy! Just click on that "donate now" button there on the right (scroll to the top of the page). $5 or $500, whatever you are able. Thanks! Tia

April 7, 2009 -Time flies when you're having fun...or so they say. I can't believe how long it has been since we've updated this. Amanda and I are just crazy busy with all we do in life. I still want to get her on here to tell you about the torture of running hills on Tuesdays. Since I have a meeting on Tuesdays, I miss the full fun of training for hills. I'm feeling pretty grateful actually although I might not appreciate it when I'm on the course trying to get up a hill.

The weather is finally turning. We've made it through some pretty cold/windy runs and now the sun is shining! We actually ran in shorts & short sleeves this past Sunday. We'll enjoy this perfect running weather while we can because the hot summer days will be fast approaching. Warmer weather and longer runs will mean having to carry our water packs in order to keep hydrated. My favorite drink for hydration while running is Nuun. If you haven't heard of them, google the name and check them out. They are out of Seattle and it's the best hydration drink out there (in my humble opinion).

Speaking about products used while running, have you ever used a running gel? I'm not talking about something you spread on your sore muscles. I'm talking about a nutritional supplement...you eat it. This helps you when your glycogen stores are running low. Actually you need to replentish before your stores run low or you'll be sorry. Once they are depleted, it's too hard to get them back up while running (go ahead, ask me how I know). Why am I mentioning this? I just want you to know the type of "suffering" we are doing going through order to take on this challenge of running a half marathon. Okay, really we're not suffering all that much but if you haven't ever experienced gels or goo, I just wanted to share. Have you ever eaten rubber cement? Okay, I haven't but I imagine the texture is nearly the same. Ew. Of course the gels come in flavors so that is helpful. I have met people who just can't seem to make themselves swallow the stuff. If you ever are in need of some, might I recommend Carb Boom!? It's the best of the ones I've tried. It's made with real fruit so perhaps that's the difference in taste.

There's my tidbits for the day. I want to end by thanking everyone who has supported us so far. You all make this journey worth while! Special thanks to our parents for their support both emotionally and financially. You rock Mom & Dad! And if you haven't taken a moment to donate yet, now is the time! What you give today can help make the difference in the quality of life for a leukemia/lymphoma patient tomorrow. Tia

April 23, 2009

In two more hours we will be running in the wind and possibly in the rain. I don't necessarily look forward to running in such conditions but even so, the running is the easy part in this process.

I'm still looking for the people who would be willing to give up a latte or burger and donate their $5. Not that I wouldn't want larger donations, I just figured in this economy, I would take whatever I can get. Right now, I'm just hoping we will actually be able to raise all of the money we need to participate in this half marathon. I'm going to be asking everyone I meet (not just people I know) if they can donate and/or pass along our web address. If we all work together, we can be proud of the impact we made in cancer patients' lives! If you have been thinking about donating, now is the time! We only have 2 months until the big race! We're doing our part by training and getting the word out that LLS needs our help, please do what you can by donating today and by giving our website to others you know! Tia

June 9,2009

Wow! It's amazing how busy life can get. There are moments when you wonder how you can fit it all in. I'm proof that it can be done! I haven't been able to keep up on blogging about our training but we have been running. Most of our training in the past month and a half has been on our own. So many commitments seem to fall on Saturdays. I was happy to make it to TNT training this past Saturday. It was great to run with the team again. We even celebrated with the San Diego runners who have completed their race! In just a few short weeks, we'll be running ours!

I've been greatful to everyone who has supported us by donating. We appreciate you so much! We are still short of our fundraising goal. I would prefer to not have to miss any runs to do fundraising. If you have already donated, could you please ask a friend to donate as well? If you haven't donated yet, now is the time! Every dollar counts!

We'll be down at Wal-Mart on Thursday taking donations and selling jewelry that my daughter Jordyn has donated. Stop on by and buy a bracelet/ear rings/necklace (proceeds go to LLS) or make a donation in person. Too busy to stop by?...just scroll to the top and click on the "donate" button now!

Thanks, Tia

June 14, 2009

I love when you get toward the end of marathon (or in this case 1/2 marathon) training. This is when you are tapering your mileage. I loved that our "long run" yesterday was only 6 miles. Wahoo! Tia

June 15, 2009

So my fundraising is coming to an end soon and I have yet to write anything about the very person I'm running in memory of, my father, Johnny Burnett. Although it has been almost 7 years, it is still hard to talk about. It happened so fast. If I remember correctly, it was 4 months from the time he was diagnosed until the time of his death. What made it more difficult was the fact that we lived so far away from each other. I got to fly down once while he was in remission the first time and the next time I saw him was the day we brought him home from the hospital to die. I still feel privileged that I with him when he died.

What I do wish is that I would have known about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Now that I know about the information and support they offer to patients and their family, I wish I had had that. I'm hoping by participating participating in this race and fundraiser, that some other family out there will have less of a struggle when dealing with leukemia or lymphoma.