My Fundraising Page

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page. As I was getting ready to celebrate my milestone birthday, I realized it is important to achieve something larger than myself in this life, and to truly make a difference. To that end, I joined the Washington/Alaska Team in Training to raise funds towards research in fighting blood cancers. Doug and I ran 26.6 miles this summer for this vitally important cause!

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training program trains regular people like me to participate in endurance sports, such as running the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I trained for my first marathon in honor of my niece Satu, who lost her life to leukemia when she was 3 yrs, old, and in honor of three year old Lily, who is currently battling leukemia, and is doing very well today. They are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!.

My personal goal is to help raise $2,000 toward innovative research and patient care services for those afflicted with blood related cancer and family support services. Seventy-five percent of every dollar raised goes directly to research and patient services. LLS funds drug related trials that provide hope for those with leukemia, lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Please make a donation to help advance LLS's mission.

Although the cause of these cancers remains unknown, steady advances in research and treatment are bringing us closer to a cure. In addition, we also support grants for 14 local researchers currently working at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington Medical Center.

Thank you to all who have so generously supported this great cause!

Ritva

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May 2, 2010

I celebrated my birthday yesterday by running 12 miles in the morning, and then dashing out to Spokane for the Bloomsday run.

This year was the first time I participated in the Bloomsday run (me and 50,000+ other folks...) This is a 7.6 mile Lilac Festival run through the city of Spokane, and seemed like the entire town was up and about, cheering us on. I finished the race in 1 hr 24 min. After just 3 months of training, the 11:20 per mile is awesome! What a great way to celebrate a milestone birthday. Bloomsday 2011, here we come!!!

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May 9, 2010

Thank you all for joining me yesterday in Yoga for Runners and Walkers -fundraiser. You helped raise $130 toward The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's research to find a cure for blood cancers. Thank you for your generosity! And Namaste.

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Jun 27, 2010

Well, I did it! I ran the whole 26.2 miles in 5hrs and 36min, not bad for a first timer. We also raised more than $2 million dollars to help end blood cancers. Thank you all who believed in me and in this cause, your support means everything!

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Photos from the Marathon:

Below are photos from the Yakima Team in Training runs

(by Gordon King - Yakima Herald-Republic)