Richmond Residents Honor Cancer Patients with Silence

Local Team In Training Teammates pay tribute to blood cancer patients

Contact: Cate Summers
catherine.summers@lls.org
804-627-0400


RICHMOND, VA, Feb. 20, 2010 — Every Saturday morning, a few dedicated Richmonders wake up with the sun and prepare for another early morning of physical activity in the name of a worthy cause.

You may have seen them running passed your house. Usually clad in purple or white jerseys and often running, cycling or power walking in packs, these inspiring athletes dedicate at least four to six months of their lives to preparing to complete an endurance event. In exchange for expert coaching, travel and lodging accommodations, commemorative souvenirs, and not to mention the experience of a lifetime, Teammates in the Virginia Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program (TNT) agree to raise money in the name of LLS while being trained to complete a full or half marathon, 100-mile century bicycle ride, or triathlon.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 at 8:30 a.m., the Richmond Team will meet at the Direct Buy parking lot on West Creek Parkway to pay tribute to its local patient honorees and all those experiencing blood cancers. Cyclists, marathoners and triathletes will ride or run their first mile as one unit, in complete silence, reconnecting with LLS’s mission and reengaging with the personal stories of their local Honored Teammates.

Founded in 1949, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is dedicated to raising funds to find a cure for blood cancers. Its mission, to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families, is the driving force behind the efforts of all of its volunteers and employees. Every four minutes, a person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every ten minutes, someone loses his or her fight, resulting in a loss of 146 people a day to blood cancers. As of June 2008, a total of 388 active LLS research grants support scientific studies at academic centers in the United States, Canada and 14 other countries. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society awarded a $600,000 grant to Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researcher Steven Grant, M.D., to develop a new laboratory-based strategy for the treatment of advanced chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and related acute leukemias. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the third-highest ranked volunteer health organization in the country, committed to putting 75 cents of every dollar raised toward their mission. Investigators supported by LLS have helped advance molecularly targeted treatments like Rituxan,® the first FDA-approved, targeted anti-cancer antibody drug, that can kill blood cancer cells without harming normal cells, and continue to develop cutting-edge treatments for patients with blood cancers, many of which can also benefit patients with other diseases.

So often, people are asked to raise funds for a charity with very little understanding of how valuable their efforts are. LLS’s patient honoree program connects Teammates with individuals who have battled or are battling a blood cancer so that Teammates may create their own connection to those facing these diseases. Some patient honorees are also TNT alumni themselves. Teammates may compete in honor of a patient they know personally, or in honor of someone from the area who has volunteered to share his or her story.

Before embarking on their route, patient honorees like Nicki Patton will speak briefly, sharing their stories and setting the mood for the morning, “Anyone of any athletic ability can complete an endurance event, while raising money to improve the lives of those affected by blood cancers,” said Patton. “As a Teammate, a mentor and a patient honoree, it has been a life-changing experience for me and one I will never forget.” Other local patient honorees include Ed Stone, Art Ritter, and Katie Powell. Stone, a seasoned TNT alumnus, was training for the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, FL. Ed has completed 17 events with TNT since undergoing whole-body radiation to fight leukemia 20 years ago. Ritter, a TNT alumnus and mentor, has been in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma for seven years. Ritter has completed four marathons with TNT and serves as a first connection volunteer for patients who are newly diagnosed with blood cancers. He has also begun training and fundraising for his fifth event, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon on June 26, 2010. Powell is in training for her first TNT event, the St. Anthony’s Triathlon. Her sister Erin raised over $7,000 in Katie’s honor for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach in 2007. Powell survived Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 27.

Teammates in Team In Training have athletic abilities ranging from novice to very experienced. Some Teammates have never done an endurance event before and do not consider themselves athletes or runners, while others have seen the notable purple jerseys while participating in past events and have sought out TNT specifically. Others join the team in an effort to lose weight or get in shape and, in the midst of their training, develop a heartfelt connection to the cause. Marathon coach Chuck Smith joined TNT in 2006 to lose weight, “Original goals of fitness and weight loss selfishly motivated me to join Team In Training. Those thoughts have long since been replaced by the passion for victory in the war on blood cancers fueled constantly by stories of hope and survival, tragic loss, and amazing results through funded research,” said Smith.

Triathlon coach Steve Griffith has been involved with TNT for four years and attests that, “by the end of each season, it's the connection to LLS’s mission that binds the team, motivates the spirits, and energizes the body to accomplish something previously unattainable. I'm touched by the caring and giving of every Teammate, every time.”

For a complete list of upcoming information meetings and events or to find out more about the patient honoree program, visit the Virginia Chapter’s Web site at www.teamintraining.org/va.

 

Patient Honorees at the Aug. 22, 2009 Silent Mile

About Team In Training:

TNT began in 1988, when Bruce Cleland of Rye, NY formed a team that raised funds and trained to run the New York City Marathon in honor of Cleland's daughter,, a leukemia survivor. Since then TNT has raised over $950 million for research, patient aid programs and community outreach programs. For more information visit http://www.teamintraining.org/.

The goal of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is to cure Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Myeloma, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the LLS Information Resource Center (IRC), at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET

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TNT is Dy-No-Mite! by Cate Summers

Being a staff person at a Team In Training (TNT) event can definitely feel similar to an out-of-body experience. You are surrounded by all of these amazing people who just raised thousands of dollars and trained for months on end to complete a challenging race.
There’s nothing simple about it. Granted, some people are natural athletes and excel during training and some have a sixth sense when it comes to fundraising, but both aspects of this program present some level of difficulty.
I’ve heard people tell me, “It’s unnatural to run for 26.2 miles,” or “asking people for money isn’t easy for me,” which is why I have the utmost respect and admiration for the hundreds of people I have met through TNT who have accomplished both of those feats, as well as the people whom they honor or remember in doing so.
I came to work for the TNT program just two days after graduating from Virginia Tech last May. I was already aware of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, having two uncles affected by blood cancer. I became acutely aware of TNT last spring when one of my sorority sisters took on the challenge of fundraising for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon and asked all of us for support. Erin planned fundraisers like car washes, pizza and Krispy Kreme sales in the heart of campus, and bake sales outside the most popular bars in town. She did it and she crossed the finish line in San Diego a few weeks after I had made my cubicle a home at the LLS office.
I quickly learned that the TNT family is a diverse one. Knowing little about the program other than TNT was the world’s largest endurance training program, I’d imagined everyone involved to be a svelte athlete with an Olympic physique and record-breaking speed. But when I showed up to my first training, I was relieved to see that everyone looked pretty normal, including the coaches. I wasn’t intimidated at all because there was an immediate welcoming spirit. I had only been on the job for 5 days but these people were happy to see me and made me feel like part of their Team.
As I continued to fall in love with my first “Big Girl Job,” I was introduced to more and more Teammates and was privileged to become a part of their chosen extracurricular activity I traveled to Virginia Beach with all of the Richmond staff for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon for my first event weekend experience. I may or may not have shed a tear or two during Honored Teammate Ed Stone’s speech at our Inspiration Dinner. I was way more wide-awake than I ever expected at 4:00 a.m. when I went to the lobby to see the Teammates off to the race start. Watching the sun rise on the beach with my coworkers and our exceptional volunteers wasn’t a bad way to start my Sunday either. But it was sitting at the check-in table, screaming and clapping for each and every participant (from every participating LLS chapter) and handing them their 13.1 mile finisher pin that was my favorite part of the day.
I ran track in high school, but those finish lines were nothing compared to this one. I was just happy to be done with the 1000-meter run; these people were sweaty and exhausted, but on an endorphin high I had never seen before. It was an honor to hand each of them their pins because they had completed something much more meaningful than just a race. They’d raised over $500,000 to support cancer research and patient services.
Just a few weeks later I was preparing to travel with the Team to Augusta, GA for Ironman 70.3 Augusta. Now, they say triathletes are a breed of their own. But these people were just like you and me (maybe with a little more stamina in a wetsuit). The Augusta Team had a bond with each other that I had not seen yet in my short tenure with TNT. They all knew each other so well and had created their own special friendships. About 30 of us successfully crammed into what seemed like Augusta’s tiniest Italian restaurant and I had a great time getting to know more about the people I sat with. One of the best stories I heard all weekend was over my fettuccine alfredo from Amy Williams about the students who tried to blow up her mailbox when she was a teacher in Alabama. Now here she was preparing to blow these 70.3 miles out of the water (pun intended).
But it might have been the sugar cube-crazed little miss Emma McFeely who made me laugh the most that weekend. A survivor of infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Emma was there supporting her mom in the triathlon. Emma’s adorable smile is enough to give anyone enough strength for 70.3 miles. Everyone had his or her own motivations for being in Augusta, but having Emma there was the extra tangible push for a lot of the Teammates.
That Sunday morning we got up with the team at 4:30 a.m. and traveled to the transition area. I was in awe as thousands of bikes were lined up in precise detail, individual to each athlete. We waited at the swim exit and photographed each of our Teammates exit the water. Then we made our way to the run course and set up our mission boards, poised to cheer for the next 5 hours or so at every green and purple tri top that strode past us. There Emma and her grandparents joined Amber and I with their homemade mission boards featuring Holly’s face on the Ironman’s superhero body. Emma knew every Virginia Teammate who ran past us and screamed their names as they waved back. She knew why they were running, and even at 10 years old, was thankful for what they had done for LLS and for her.
I watched and blew my horn as Emma’s mom ran over to us on the grass, gave her a big squeeze, and went back on her way down the road. We are reminded every day how unfair it is for a child to have to go through cancer, and it is another reason why all of us are so invested in this cause. But it was truly amazing to see how proud Emma was of her mother, and I can only imagine what a brave child she must have been…and still is.
Every day at work I find new inspiration. Whether it’s a new Teammate who just signed up three weeks ago and has already reached her fundraising minimum, a novice triathlete who can’t wait to get in the water, convincing a friend to join her local chapter, learning of the passing of my first boss from ALL, or another mission moment that reminds us that the fight is not yet over, I never find myself short of motivation. As we begin our summer season, I can’t wait to get to know a new group of Teammates and learn about what motivates them. It is truly an honor to encounter so many people with some of the biggest hearts and selfless intentions. Good luck to our newest Virginia Teammates, may you get the most out of your TNT experience!
As Emma’s sign said, TNT is DY-NO-MITE!

Don't Hit Snooze by Jacob Castello

 

    There is no sound more annoying than the alarm clock in the early hours of the morning. This brain-splitting disruption is made all the more heinous by each moment of sleep lost from a normal routine. Normal bedtimes being midnight or later and normal waking times being 10 o’clock or (much) later means that a 6 a.m. alarm may need to fear for its life should it peal its ear-splitting cackle within reach of an instinct-driven hand. In my case, the cell phone that actually woke me was two steps from the bed and was spared my wrath because of the few moments those steps allowed my head to clear while I sought out my wicked oppressor.
    Of course it wasn’t oppressing me, just reminding me that my first swim practice was at 6:30 and I had better get a move on if I was going to be there on time. After all, I had already started fundraising, and wouldn’t it just look terrible to have to report to everyone that I missed my first practice because I was up too late chatting with Monique and her gorgeous friend after the TNT dinner last night. Once my feet hit the floor I began to vaguely connect with that Christmastime feeling of excitement about new things in store and I got going pretty quickly. In one fell swoop I put some pants on gathered the bag I pack the night before and headed out into the cold tundra that Richmond Proper had become.
    I made it to the Northside Y with plenty of time to spare, walked in the front door, and in a still slightly sleep-addled monotone managed a raspy, “Team in Training?” before being shown the locker room door. Once changed, I spilled out into the pool, arms folded against what I was sure would be a cool blast of air coming off the top of that water. I stared dumbfounded at the lanes for several moments before the lifeguard on duty took pity on me and pointed out a lane I could swim in. Once again I threw up a “Team in Training?” and hoped it would opensesame my way into looking like I was, in fact, allowed to be there. He smiled and pointed out Steve who pointed out a lane and pointed out that I should get in and warm up. So I walked over and after a moment of psyching myself up I jumped right into the water, which I was sure would be an icy seizure. Surprise, surprise it was fairly warm. After a very short warm up (apprehension of being out of shape) I hopped out and saw other TNT’ers begin to congregate at one end of the pool.
    As I started to break the ice I met some people training for an Olympic distance triathlon fast-approaching in the spring. We chatted about fundraising and their reasons for getting involved, and I began to have flashbacks to the night before…

Flashback to the night before:

    The TNT dinner at Capital Ale was populated not by a bunch of 6’2” guys dressed still in their lycra talking about what hair-removal products work best, but by a bunch of ordinary-looking folks hanging out in a bar. It’s all an act. None of these people are ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. Take Paul for instance, a man 20 years my senior diagnosed with a benign form of leukemia who had done more century races than I have fingers. He laughed off my shock about hills coming from flatland Tidewater to Richmond. Those weren’t hills for him. Apparently this was a man who got his jollies from hills that were really mountains, that pushed your bike to speeds over 50 mph and ran your legs down to speeds less than 6. Imagine my shock when a salt-and-pepper headed man walked over and Paul introduced him as the man who could drop him without so much as a thought.
    Then there was Sarah. She had already done over a dozen races and helped raise over $40,000 for the LLS! Her stories of fund raising cut my puny $1,500 goal down to size very quickly. That’s not to say she wasn’t extremely helpful. She was always quick to support and give advice, I even got a great template for some business cards I will be handing out with my website and info on them. These, however, were just appetizers for a red-headed fireplug who probably came to this planet wrapped in a blanket emblazoned with a giant “S.”
    Susan Ann Glass was a woman whose personality was clearly dunking from the foul line in a package that was more at home in a Sicilian kitchen. Having the brief conversation I did have was like being train robbed by a bandit on a rocket horse with ADD. She kept flitting from person to person as they said one thing or another to her. She would launch into soaring overtures of conversation only to be diverted quickly and take aim at another person caught in her maelstrom of pep. But when she did finally focus her fire for a moment at the targets I presented I was blown away like that hapless goat next to an abandoned house in New Mexico.
    Many times she stacked marathons on top of each other like normal people making quadruple-stuffed Oreos and she bit them with just as much gusto. She was grateful for a more than 6-hour time limit on one of her races, but only because she ran it on a broken foot. I said I was lamenting the trainer time, she had the solution: five drills I wasn’t doing but better start. She sent me that drill from one of her 9 email addresses. All this while holding a great career managing the helpdesk for all of Virginia, lobbying for a smoking ban, raising two kids, and making TNT just one of the multiple charities she was involved with.
    I had to scoop myself off the floor. However, I had never felt better equipped to take on a challenge than I had right after that dinner. There was a euphoric sense of purpose and inspiration walking out of that room surrounding me. I was ready, I could do this, I was heading home to get some sleep so I could get up easily in the morning.
    Of course with any quest there are some detours and mine were a pair of sparkling brown eyes sitting at a booth on my way toward the door. My conscience facepalmed and I spent a couple of hours plying charm to two beautiful women who laughed politely all night. I knew I’d pay a price to see them smile some more and I did when that alarm hit my ears in the early early o’darkthirty.

Back to practice:

    Having gotten a little more winded than I would have wanted to during warm-up, I was relieved to hear Kia, my coach, tell Melody and me it would be an easy day today. Melody is doing the same race and is one of those super heroes in training. So we did some interesting drills like one where you lay on one side and kick for a length before switching to the other side and kicking. My goal during all of this was to gauge what, if anything was left of my swimming skills since I had stopped about 2 years ago. I am fairly proud of my performance, Kia told us both that we were good in the water, and I only swallowed about two large mouthfuls of delicious pool water.
    All in all, it was a solid practice, but I was really floored by all the people I met along the way. This human perspective I keep getting is really interesting. It’s very hard to frown around these people because they are all working so hard for such a great cause, and also they are high on endorphins from all of the exercise. Really that and the light workout made it a relatively easy day. When Melody and I obliquely alluded to this we momentarily saw a fire light in Kia’s eyes. Her tone got serious and she told us in a tone heavy on the understatement that she will be making it hard on us soon enough.
    Looks like ear-splitting alarms waking me from my lucid fantasy worlds are going to be some of the least painful aspects of this process.
    I can’t wait.

Why I Joined the TEAM by Ann-Marie Schell

I joined Team In Training in 2007 because I needed help training for my first half marathon. I had no personal connection to the Mission but knew I was going to sign up minutes in to the informational meeting, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I not only completed my first endurance event, but I also developed a life-long love for running, not to mention learning how to run properly! More importantly though, I made life-long friends and learned about the fight against blood cancers. I was hooked after my first season; I wanted to keep running, stay in touch with my new friends and continue the fight, so I signed up to be a mentor. As a mentor, I logged more miles and watched as my teammates raised more and more money.

I took a year off from Team In Training while I lived overseas. I signed up to mentor straightaway after coming back and was so excited for our first Saturday morning run. It was great to see old friends as well as meet new teammates and old alumni who were back for more also. At some point in the season, something changed though. The more time I spent with Team In Training, the more I began to feel surrounded and overwhelmed by the pain that cancer causes. It seemed everyone I talked to had a sad story to share about loved ones who endured horrific and crippling treatments while trying to overcome these diseases. And although survival rates are higher than ever, beating the initial disease is just the beginning of the fight, because many survivors have to endure life-long side effects from the treatments that saved their lives. I might have become discouraged even, were it not for the amazing people running beside me every Saturday. No matter how hard I try, I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like for people who have struggled with blood cancer, and I am beyond inspired by their positive attitude and determination not only to find cures but to find more humane treatments. Every story is a sad one and upsets me just a little bit more, but every story I hear is a reminder of why it is so important that we all keep fighting. So, I'm back at it again for the summer season, and I could not be more excited!

GO TEAM!