It's a race, it's a race!

I will spend the next couple months preparing for a half marathon. I will be training with a team and learning how to properly prepare my body to run 13.1 miles. This will be my first endurance event ever. I'm quite excited and challenged by this! It will require lots of commitment and dedication. But running is really only part of what I am doing.

I will be raising funds to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS is a nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of individual, corporate and foundation contributions to advance its mission.

The money I raise will go to the society and their research in stopping this disease. A small portion of it will cover the costs of my entry fee into the North Trails Half Marathon in May.

Here are some facts about blood cancers:

• An estimated 912,938 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL or myeloma.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20.
• Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $600 million in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and myelodsplastic syndromes research. LLS-funded research has led to key advances in understanding blood cancers and has helped produce new treatments to enhance and prolong lives.
  

This cause is important to me. God has given me the ability to run. I have the opportunity, choice and ability to train and compete. It will be difficult at times, and I am sure there will be days that I will not feel like training. But I will. I will do it because I know there are people who fight this disease everyday and have not been given the choice whether or not they want to face it.

I will share the stories of the Honorees that I meet through Team In Training. These are people who have fought and are fighting blood cancer.

Your donation is very important to me. It will help me reach my fundraising goal.

Please visit my page and join me in supporting LLS. I appreciate your donation and encouragement!